8thBridge Social Commerce IQ Report by the Numbers

by Paul Chaney
in Infographics · Social
— 14 Dec, 2012

This post builds on my colleague Paul Marsden’s excellent treatise on the second annual Social Commerce IQ report of 25 top retailers published by social commerce platform provider 8thBridge.

In his post, Paul hones in on commentary by Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru, so I’ll refrain from adding my two cents and instead focus on the report’s statistical findings and analysis.

First, the study revealed a number of new best practices as compared to the 2011 version, including an extended focus beyond simply increasing a presence within social networks to creating richer social shopping experiences that are directly integrated with, and driven from, ecommerce sites.

In other words, it’s a shift away from helping people shop where they socialize and socialize where they shop.

“Social commerce has pivoted its focus from ecommerce transactions on social networks to a new kind of social network in which users are connected by their interests (Interest Graphs) rather than friendships (Social Graphs),” said 8thBridge CEO Wade Gerten in an introductory statement. “The industry has witnessed the rise of a new phase of social commerce where innovative retailers have begun deeply integrating social shopping into their websites rather than relying on social network websites for engagement.”

Here’s a summary of the report by the numbers.

The Top 25 retailers represented the following categories:

15 Apparel/Accessories
6 Specialty
1 Mass Merchant
1 Housewares/Home Furnishings
1 Jewelry
1 Health/Beauty

The top 10 retail brands by Social Commerce IQ:

Fab.com
Deb Shops
Coastal Contacts
ModCloth
PetFlow.com
ShoeDazzle
JackThreads.com
CafePress
Birchbox
Totsy

Consumer findings from the report include:

70% of respondents would rather hear about a new product from a Facebook friend, than from a brand;
57% have asked their friends on Facebook for advice before purchasing a product;
31% say they don’t share products on social networks, while percent say they share on Facebook, 25% on Twitter, and 22% on Pinterest;
64% said that more Facebook “likes” on a product do not increase the likelihood that they will buy that product;
44% say they are most likely to discover new products on Facebook compared to 21% on Pinterest and 13% on Twitter, but 37% don’t pay attention to posts about products;
56% do not share things on social networks to get rewards.

Brand findings from the report include:

Facebook Upstream Traffic: 2.46%;
Pinterest Upstream Traffic: 0.13% (Low);
Twitter Upstream Traffic: 0.06% (Distant 3rd);
35% of companies researched had apps on Facebook that were not functioning and/or were out of date;
51% of companies have incorporated the Pin It button.

Looking at the SCIQ Top 25 three types of companies emerge as the leaders in Social Commerce: Social Integrated, In Transition and Strong Viral.

Socially Integrated ecommerce companies have deeply integrated social shopping functionality into their
ecommerce sites. They “enhance the social experience by using social expressions, curation, crowd sourced discovery, and social rewards,” the report stated.
In Transition companies are traditional ecommerce retailers score well in both branding on social networks and social network referral traffic. They have traditional ecommerce platforms but have started to add the latest social tools.
Strong Viral companies score exceptionally well in branding on social networks and social network referral traffic.

The full report is 111 pages long, so it will take some time to digest. An infographic that contains key findings may be your best bet If you’re only interested in a quick review.