Just 19% of Consumers Have Made a Purchase Through a Group-Buying Site

A new study from Shop.org, comScore and Social Shopping Labs looked at how shoppers interact with retailers through social networks and found that retailers can use social media not only to build their brands, but to make money as well. The study also found that while a majority of consumers have heard of group-buying sites like Groupon, just a fraction of them have gone and made a purchase via one of these sites.

According to the survey of 1,787 adult online shoppers in April, 42 percent of online consumers have followed a retailer proactively through Facebook, Twitter or a retailer’s blog. The average online consumer follows about six retailers via social networks.

“While shoppers’ reasoning for following a retailer varies, the majority of respondents (58%) said they follow companies to find deals, while nearly half (49%) say they want to keep up to date on products,” according to the study. More than one-third also follow retailers for information on contests and events (39%).”

The survey also notes that while social media is used by retailers to build their brands, companies may be able to monetize these channels as well. Fifty-six percent of Facebook users said they’ve clicked through to a retailer’s website via a Facebook post, while 67 percent of Twitter users said clicking on a tweet brought them to a retailer’s website.

“Additionally, the appetite for buying directly through social networks appears strong: one-third of shoppers say they would be likely to make a purchase directly from Facebook (35%) or Twitter (32%).”

The growing popularity of smartphones means shoppers are using them to engage with social media on a regular basis, as the survey found that 42 percent of Twitter users access the site on their mobile phones at least once a day, compared to 34 percent of Facebook users and 32 percent who said they view YouTube clips on their smartphones on a daily basis.

The survey also found that 82 percent of online consumers are aware of group-buying sites like Groupon, LivingSocial and Gilt City. However, just 19 percent of respondents said they have actually made a purchase through one of those sites. Of the group who actually makes purchases through these sites, 57 percent have spent more than $100 on these sites to date.

Eighteen percent of these shoppers said they purchased non-traditional retail items like food and drinks (18 percent), entertainment (16 percent) and personal care items (12 percent).

“As these sites gain momentum and spread to more cities around the country, retailers have an opportunity to experiment not only with established sites but also group-buy promotions on their own Facebook pages and websites,” said Peter Leech, founder of Social Shopping Labs.

Source:

http://www.shop.org/c/journal_articles/view_article_content?groupId=1&articleId=1363&version=1.0