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www.IndependentRetailer.com COVER STORY Social Media
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the market and are evolving as quickly as the social networking phenomena. These types of social ecommerce can be divided into three distinct phases, also known as fi rst, second and third genera- tion of social ecommerce. Phase one can be defi ned as social distribution, and is made up of companies like Groupon, Living- Social, or GiltGroup. They were the fi rst to deploy retail models that leveraged the power of the social web, and these compa- nies generate a viral distribution platform that helps businesses drive sales, liquidate inventory, and leverage the social web for
marketing. Such companies will continue to have a critical role in social ecommerce, but some businesses will adopt specifi c tactics to work within their own customer networks. Phase two can be better de-
fi ned as companies that throw money at social features. Brands and retailers with a critical mass of customers are realizing they can employ the same tactics as the “social distributors” above, with- in their own customer networks. These companies are experiment- ing with various social features, or point solutions, including cou- poning, social shopping, private sales, social wish lists, reviews and ratings, Facebook shopping carts, badging, and more. These solutions add interesting social experiences and will be the sub-
ject of much focus in the coming year. Many retailers and brands that have conducted these ex- periments say they like the social aspects these features introduce, yet they realize they have lim- ited integration with the most important data in ecommerce, the customer transaction. The third phase of social
ecommerce solutions addresses the needs of progressive retail- ers and brands that are looking to optimize their customer net- works to drive revenue. For example, retailers looking to incent their network to share a link to their product or service will want to reward those fol- lowers, not just for the number of times shared, but also on the number of customers they have
continued on page 95
TRADEX is the Largest Distributor of Handicrafts and Tobacco Accessories
A N D C R
E
S
S
O
R I
E
Tradex USA Corp
Cards ®
94 May 2011
Follow us on INDEPENDENTRETAILER
Toll Free: 866-594-6333 146 W 29th St Suite 3W1, New York, NY 10001
S H A F TED OACC
TOBACC
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