To complete the Commerce week today is all about the letter ‘S’ as in sCommerce. We have talked about eCommerce (electronic commerce) and mCommerce (mobile commerce, also electronic) and no it is the turn of sCommerce or social commerce.

It is to be expected that sCommerce is becoming more popular as the social media platforms it is driven by gain influence.  Bit is sCommerce simply getting your visitors to ‘Like’ your shop? Far from it sCommerce is powered by engagement.

Many businesses are failing to capitalise on this rapidly rising trend. Adding little more than adding a ‘Like’ button or setting up a Twitter feed. This is a great first step and gets you ready for the future but it is not a recipe for long-term success in sCommerce, which is likely to be one of the biggest generators of revenue for retailers over the next few years, but perhaps not just now. Even with the might of Facebook’s 800 million users their commerce project (shall we call it fCommerce?) was not successful. Most online retailers struggle to leverage social activities to increase their turnover.

Where newspaper advertising could be, and sometimes had to be, quite generic in its appeal and broad in its approach social commerce will thrive when retailers engage with their users and learn how to offer specific deals and products to the right people. Review sites are sketchy at the best of times. Who knows if the 1-star review was from a competitor and the 5-star reviews were written by the owner? Connection with people you trust and learning from their buying behaviour and brand choices will help retailers to discover people with influence who can be enticed into their product range and may become evangilists, spreading the word amongst those they influence. This is engagement, not with everyone but with those who can help you achieve your goals.

Unilever, the brand giant, have a clever approach. They invite users of social networks such as Facebook to ‘help them generate ideas and make their product better’. They offer points for engagement and even the chance of winning cash for ideas. This helps to make many feel like they are being heard and will help to generate loyalty. Almost as if they were ‘socialising’ with people who both talk and listen. Who would have thought social networking could mimic the real world! :)

sCommerce is not so much a new way of buying products but rather a way for retailers to market their goods and services and listen to feedback and the needs of their customers in an unobtrusive way, quickly and easily.

Have you got your social engagement started? Can you engage with your customers? Do you activly search out conversation about your brand and show the world you want to improve? If not its time to start, if you have started its time to get better!

AsOne can help setup and manage your social network and with our exclusive Innovation Club we can help to guide you through the ever shifting techniques to capitalise on this exciting medium. 

Did you know AsOne can build a fully featured eCommerce solution integrated into your social network for under £4000? Be up and running in weeks and capitalising on eCommerce instead of struggling on the high street. You can even spread the cost over 10 months interest free.