About

Social Commerce Today is a blog about new trends and technologies in “social commerce” – the use of social media tools to help online shoppers shop and online sellers sell.

Social Commerce Today is sponsored by the European interactive agency group Syzygy and edited by digital ethnographer Paul Marsden.

Social Commerce Today covers the range of tools designed to help people connect where they buy and buy where they connect. From simple share with/forward to a friend buttons to f-commerce(Facebook e-commerce) and real time social shopping social solutions, Social Commerce Today covers all that is related to ”the creation of places where people can collaborate online, get advice from trusted individuals, find goods and services and then purchase them” (Steve Rubel’s plain English definition of social commerce).

Social commerce technologies we’re tracking in Social Commerce Today include;

• Collaborative Filtering (Recommendation Engines) (e.g. Netflix Cinematch)
• Collaborative Buying (“Groupons” – Group Coupons) (e.g. Dell Swarm)
• Social Media Storefronts (e.g. Facebook 1-800 flowers)
• Crowdsourced Deal Directories (e.g. RetailMeNot, Priceless Picks (Mobile)
• Crowdsourced Review Forums (SponsoredReviews, Nokia, Nokia WOM World)
• Referral Programs (e.g. Vente Privée)
• Curated Marketplaces (e.g. Apple App Store, Threadless)
• Deal Feeds (e.g. Amazon Deals)

So, why a blog on social commerce? Two reasons. First, the rise of social media (online content sharing and discussion tools) has led to the emergence of some exciting new trends and technologies in e-commerce. Add into the mix mobile and realtime web functionality, and the possibilities are genuinely revolutionary. Secondly, social commerce is establishing itself as a compelling social media solution for marketing goods and services. It’s measurable, it’s manageable – and it’s all about sales. This is a refreshing change from all the social media talk about “engagement” and “conversations”. Social commerce is social media marketing that shifts stock. Period.

Payment-by-Results Social Media Marketing anyone?