Visa have officially launched Rightcliq, a new social commerce service that allows US shoppers to get second opinions from their Facebook and email contacts on potential purchases – and then buy them.

Rightcliq is essentially a social bookmarking service – like Best Buy’s universal wishlist Giftag service with an image/price grabber to facilitate comparison shopping combined with an autofill credit card payment feature – from card details stored with Rightcliq (not necessarily Visa).

The web-browser plugin-powered service from Visa is also partnering online retailers (1-800 flowers, Barnes & Noble, Avis…) to offer users of Rightcliq special discounts, and offers tracking services for online purchases.

Check out the screenshots and the video below – but in a nutshell what Rightcliq does is create a browser bookmarklet that saves selected items to a private online “wishpace” that can be shared with friends to get feedback on shopping ideas, and from where members can compare and buy bookmarked items.

In other words, Rightcliq is a social version of PayPal.

Whilst the Rightcliq site design and navigation are well, different, and the plugin heavy-handedly brands your browser with Visa – Rightcliq is an interesting, and potentially useful service.  It’s also a concept that other financial service providers could, and we think, should build on – but perhaps in a less intrusive way.  A useful build for Visa would be to offer members Visa payment card protection services (which require registering all your cards anyway), and perhaps add in a price comparison engine.

Should all retail banks and card providers be looking to offer similar social shopping services on their secure websites to drive transactions and loyalty?

Here’s a short and instructive podcast from leading UK trade magazine New Media Age, on the state of social commerce in the UK.

NMA Social Commerce Podcast

The NMA podcast is part of the rising tide of media coverage that social commerce is receiving in the UK right now.

Last week New Media Age ran a high profile article with the title “Is the UK ready for social commerce?” by Charlotte McEleny (archived below). In the NO camp, Ebay representatives Phillip Rinn and Alex Marks and online retail trade body IMRG suggested that the Brits, or rather their digital markets, are too immature for social commerce.

The argument seems to be an alleged British disconnect between an e-commerce mindset, which is still “transactional”, and a social mindset, which for brands and retailers is about “reputation management”; essentially another PR vs Marketing debate.

In the YES camp, Sienne Veit, social and mobile commerce development manager at high street retailer Marks & Spencer, argued that brands and retailers are being pulled into social commerce by consumer demand.  Smart brands and retailers are wising up to this market demand – and offering social commerce services. Jim Clark, analyst at retail analysis firm Mintel, dismissed Ebay’s dissing of social commerce as ostrich-like motivated perception: Social networks pose one of the biggest threats to Ebay and its PayPal subsidiary, with Facebook with it’s size and imminent launch of Facebook Credits, the leading menace.

That Ebay’s cries of British immaturity are acts of self-delusional bad faith gets echoed in the above NMA podcast, where the NMA editorial team conclude if “if I was Ebay, I’d be quite worried at the moment”.  Charlotte McEleny summarizes current social commerce excitement due to opportunities for building in real-time social functions into the transactional process – at the point of transaction and concludes “it’s going to be huge”. Nevertheless, both the article and podcast suggest that in the UK there is still some confusion over what social commerce actually is – social on commerce sites and/or commerce on social sites?

And today Marketing Week publishes a bombastic article “Forget e-commerce; social commerce is where it’s at” (archieved below) penned by Michael Nutley explaining that with leading brands such as P&G and Disney embracing f-commerce, and the upcoming launch of Facebook currency, social commerce is set to go mainstream in the UK. Michael notes that if social commerce on Facebook stumbles, it’ll only be because of Facebook itself – 30% commission on transactions (when using credits) and privacy concerns.

And finally in an accompanying article in today’s Marketing Week ”Local businesses turn to social commerce“, Peter Briffett, managing director of group-buy site LivingSocial UK, sets out guidelines for local businesses looking to choose from the myriad of group-buy sites sprouting up over the country.

1. The group buying site has invested money and energy into building quality lists in your city.
2. The group buying website has been running deals successfully in your city or others.
3. There is dedicated team on the ground that will help you make sure you get the exposure you seek and have someone to call if something is not to your liking.
4. Checkout past deals to see if you would like to be in their company.
5. Check the terms and conditions carefully to ensure you’ll be paid promptly for all the sales not just vouchers redeemed and that you have a way out in the future and are not promising exclusive rights to one group buying operator.

_____________________________________________

Archived articles

Is the UK ready for social commerce?

By Charlotte McEleny, in New Media Age

Archived from http://www.nma.co.uk/news/is-the-uk-ready-for-social-commerce?/3016051.article

Ebay, one of the world’s biggest ecommerce brands, has said that the UK market isn’t yet mature enough for social commerce, despite commitment from brands such as Dell and Disney.

Phillip Rinn, director of advertising partnerships at Ebay UK, said British consumers aren’t ready for social commerce, and the auction site is instead testing ways in which social media more broadly could fit into a transactional website.

This is in contrast to commitment from big-name brands including Dell, Disney, easyJet and P&G (nma 22 July 2010), which have launched social commerce services and tools or plan to over the next year.

Dell has been using Twitter to sell computers since 2007 and earlier this year said it had made $6.5m via the profile since it launched (nma 25 March 2010), while Disney was the first brand to sell cinema tickets directly through a Facebook app to US consumers.

But Ebay’s Rinn said, “For us social is probably not where it could be. We’re using Twitter and Facebook but haven’t fully embraced them. We’re in a testing mode to see how social fits into a transactional mindset. Social shopping isn’t yet mature in the UK.”

Likewise, Alex Marks, head of international business marketing at Ebay Advertising, said that although social media is important for retailers, it doesn’t need to be a separate focus.

“I don’t think social shopping needs to take a foothold because it’s by definition a social activity and a retailers’ experience should be worth talking about,” he said.

David Smith, operations director at online retail trade body the IMRG, said there are still some doubts from retailers, whose focus in social media is on reputation management.

“For a lot of retailers there are other channels from which they feel they can get a better return on investment,” he said.

However, Sienne Veit, social and mobile commerce development manager at M&S Direct, said Marks & Spencer is investing in social media because of demand from consumers.

“I don’t think anyone has yet come up with the perfect solution but our customers have a propensity to shop in this way,” she said. “The more people access social media the more this will be the case. The potential lies with the link between social and mobile, which is where we’re already seeing good results.”

Will Dymott, head of ecommerce at men’s fashion retailer Lyle & Scott, said the problem lies in a lack of definition around social commerce. “Ebay was one of the pioneers in social functionality by introducing feedback on sellers,” he said. “The problem is that social isn’t defined yet because it’s so new. It can mean either using Facebook to sell or including customer reviews.”

Facebook, expected to announce its 500 millionth user imminently, is due to roll out its credits service beyond beta trials this September. Brands and agencies said it could become a challenger to big online retailers because it can use social information for targeting and recommendations (nma 15 July 2010).

Jim Clark, senior technology analyst at retail analysis firm Mintel, said social networks could pose one of the biggest threats to Ebay.

“It has become paralysed by the fact that it now has a massive audience but has moved away from its roots as an online car boot to become a high street aggregator,” he said. “Social networks also have the added benefit of products being recommended or people buying directly from friends.”

Forget e-commerce; social commerce is where it’s at

By Michael Nutley, in MarketingWeek, 29 July 2010

Archived from http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/disciplines/digital/forget-e-commerce-social-commerce-is-where-its-at/3016388.article

Plans from Facebook that will enable users to buy products without leaving the site could have major implications for etailers.

New buzz word ahoy!

Yes, for those of you who have been eagerly awaiting the latest phrase with which to impress your less digitally inclined friends and colleagues, I give you: “social commerce”.

As a term for the latest development in the interactive space, social commerce has a lot going for it. It includes the word social, for a start. It’s vague enough to be subject to a number of different definitions, which allows for endless discussions about whether something is, or isn’t, part of it. And what’s more, by some of those definitions it has been around for ages, allowing some “promise of the internet” credibility to cling to it.

Amazon’s use of customer reviews and eBay’s system of groups and seller ratings could both be seen as early examples of social commerce, while Dell claims to have made $6.5m (£4.2m) selling computers on Twitter since 2007. But if that’s the case, why are people just beginning to talk about social commerce now?

Two announcements in the past month have catapulted the concept into the forefront of discussions on new media. The first was that Facebook announced it would shut down its Facebook Gift Shop next month, paving the way for the launch of its virtual currency, Facebook Credits, possibly as early as September. Already in beta testing, Facebook Credits will initially allow users to pay for virtual goods such as games, but will eventually let them buy anything, with the network expected to take a 30% cut of all transactions.

The second announcement was that Procter & Gamble has started selling its Max Factor brand cosmetics through Facebook as part of what the FMCG giant calls “small-scale direct-to-consumer” initiatives. This follows in the footsteps of Disney in the US, which recently launched a Facebook app allowing people to book tickets for Toy Story 3 without leaving the social network.

These two approaches take social media on a step by bringing the ability to purchase what you’re talking about on the social network within the network itself. Etailers know that every page you ask people to click through results in a drop-off in numbers, just as each floor you ascend in a shopping mall has fewer shoppers. So when there’s buzz being generated about your products in the social space it makes sense to bring the checkout to the potential customers, rather than the other way round.

Facebook Credits could take that principle and write it very large indeed. The social network is on the point of announcing its 500 millionth member, which alone makes it a compelling place for brands to set up shop. That, along with the cost, is one of the reasons brands are increasingly using Facebook pages rather than microsites as the hubs of their digital marketing campaigns. Add to that the amount of data that Facebook collects on its users, and the fact that Facebook Connect allows users to log into sites outside the platform using their Facebook login, and you have an ecommerce platform of unprecedented reach and power.

But while there are compelling reasons to use Facebook as an ecommerce vehicle, there are also big questions. The first is whether this is a vehicle for everyone with a product to sell, or whether that 30% transaction fee will mean it will be used mainly by brands looking to sell direct. Certainly it opens up the possibility of brands collecting levels of data about their customers that have never been available before.

Another big question is what Facebook’s move means for other players that could be considered to be in the social commerce space. Speaking to New Media Age last week, eBay UK’s director of advertising partnerships Phillip Rinn said that social shopping isn’t yet mature in the UK. This seemed like a curious remark from one of the pioneers of social commerce, not so much because it’s clearly true as because one of the signs of a market maturing is the arrival of new entrants. The real concern for eBay must be the threat that Facebook Credits would pose to PayPal, which is currently the closest thing there is to a web currency. There must also be a concern that a retail structure based on Facebook could damage eBay Shops, but as this has carved out a niche providing an ecommerce platform for smaller retailers, it may be able to coexist with Facebook Credits.

The final question is one of privacy. A similar scheme to the one proposed for Facebook Credits was suggested back at the beginning of the decade. It would have stored people’s personal data, allowing them to shop across participating sites with only one login. But it was proposed by Microsoft and people decided they didn’t trust the Redmond giant with that sort of data. The question for Facebook is how much times have changed, and whether people now trust Mark Zuckerberg more than they used to trust Bill Gates.

Inset: Facebook Credits will initially allow users to pay for virtual goods such as games, but will eventually let them buy anything, with the network expected to take a 30% cut of all transactions… and Procter & Gamble has started selling its Max Factor brand cosmetics through Facebook as part of what the FMCG giant calls ‘small-scale direct-to-consumer’ initiatives.

Michael Nutley is editor-in-chief of New Media Age and Reputation Online

Local businesses turn to social commerce

By Peter Briffett, in MarketingWeek, Wed, 28 Jul 2010

Archived from http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/opinion/local-businesses-turn-to-social-commerce/3016351.article

Peter Briffett, managing director of LivingSocial UK, sets out some guidelines for small, local businesses looking to harness the power of social commerce.

“Group buying” is an advertising phenomenon that has proven popular with local businesses in the US, and it is rapidly gaining ground in the UK marketplace as businesses look for cost-effective and low-risk ways to promote their business and acquire new customers. Group buying enables merchants to market their products and services directly to consumers living in their local area with zero risk and ROIs unmatched by other digital and traditional marketing channels.

Tens of thousands of subscribers opt-in to receive emails with daily deals for restaurants, spas, concerts, sporting events, attractions and consumer goods in their city at a significantly reduced rate. In addition, the retailer is promoted on the group buying website, through social media and the word-of-mouth “buzz” that the campaign creates by focusing on one great local merchant per day.

How does group buying work?

The concept of group buying is quite simple: Every morning subscribers receive an email with a daily deal from a local business at a significantly reduced price, generally 50-90% off. Subscribers who grab the deal within the 24-hour window immediately commit to becoming customers of the featured business, but don’t have to redeem the voucher for a few months to a year. It is a risk free platform that guarantees local businesses more customers into their shops, restaurants or venues without making any upfront investment.

How is this different from other types of online marketing?

Unlike other forms of online marketing such as Google AdWords which is constructed on the pay per click basis , “group buying” businesses only pay commissions on each deal sold. Local merchants also benefit from exposure on a highly trafficked website and to tens of thousands of email subscribers in their geographic area. On a per click model this would normally cost the business thousands of pounds. Although merchants need to put together an offer to generate interest, the cost per new customer has been proven to beat all other forms of traditional marketing by an order of magnitude.

Who buys daily deals and what’s in it for the merchant?

There are a number of different group buying sites, some general and some specialising in health and beauty or a specific audience. Contrary to detractors’ belief that group buying sites are only used by people on tight budgets or who would have shopped there anyway, the subscriber lists are comprised of affluent, socially networked professionals. They have higher than average income and enjoy going out, want to learn about new things to do in their city and like to get a great deal in the process.

In addition, the subscribers are social media savvy and use platform such as Twitter and Facebook to let their friends know about a great deal they’ve just purchased or plan to buy if their friends join them. This creates a huge word of mouth buzz about a business over a 24 hour period. Some of the group buying sites even offer free deals or rewards to those subscribers who recommend a deal to their friends who then purchase it. If they like the restaurant, spa or venue, they will keep coming back and spreading the word online and offline.

How to pick the right site for me?

Group buying has become a very successful marketing tool for many businesses. Below are a few tips on how to pick the right group buying site for your business:

1. The group buying site has invested money and energy into building quality lists in your city.

2. The group buying website has been running deals successfully in your city or others.

3. There is dedicated team on the ground that will help you make sure you get the exposure you seek and have someone to call if something is not to your liking.

4. Checkout past deals to see if you would like to be in their company.

5. Check the terms and conditions carefully to ensure you’ll be paid promptly for all the sales not just vouchers redeemed and that you have a way out in the future and are not promising exclusive rights to one group buying operator.

While this is still relatively new in the UK, group buying has already attracted the attention of many successful brands including the Marco Pierre White restaurant group and London Zoo. If you have wondered how to acquire new customers quickly, harness the power of social media and get your brand into email inboxes of tens of thousands of local residents, group buying could be the way to go.

So Facebook and Amazon have just reinforced their status as the ‘IT couple’ in social commerce right now.

Hot on the heels of an Amazon powered store on Facebook for consumer goods giant P&G, Amazon is deploying Facebook-powered recommendations on its own site.  There’s also a natty birthday reminder function – with gift recommendations – for your Facebook friends.

Specifically, when you now login to Amazon – you can activate your “Amazon Facebook Page” (in public beta – screenshot below), which is accessible from your Amazon personalized store – and shows:

• Your Facebook photo and profile (seems trivial but it makes the experience so much more personal)
• Upcoming Birthday and Gift Suggestions for Your Facebook Friends – from info. scraped from their social graph
• Amazon Items Popular Among Your Facebook Friends
• Recommendations Based on Your Favorite Books on Facebook
• Recommendations Based on Your Favorite Music on Facebook
• Recommendations Based on Your Favorite Movies on Facebook

All this is entirely optional, and Amazon goes to some length to lay to rest any privacy qualms that tend come with all things Facebook - stating clearly that it will not share account and purchase details with Facebook, nor will it contact Facebook friends.

Social commerce is a two-sided coin – helping people buy where they connect, and connect where they buy – and Amazon looks like it wants its logo printed on both sides of the coin.  By deploying Facebook-powered recommendations on its site, Amazon is making the e-commerce experience more personal and social.

Our initial view is that this greatly improves the Amazon experience.

But the current beta is still a far cry what’s possible, in terms of real-time social shopping, or even simple deploying Facebook social plugins.  Whilst Amazon might have ‘issues’ with outsourcing too much social functionality to the social network – for most brands and retailers it should be a quick, easy and inexpensive win.

And he very fact that Amazon has jumped into bed with Facebook should be pause for thought for all brands and retailers – whilst there can be a number of good reasons not to emulate Amazon, there are also good reasons to do just that – and here, we think, emulating Amazon by deploying Facebook connectivity could be a smart move.

Kaboodle, the social shopping site, has launched PopPicks, a community-driven flash sale feature. Like Gilt.com, members can get access to private flash sales, short time-sensitive brand-name deals at high discounts, but like Threadless.com members get to vote on what goes on sale (press release below).

By allowing members to vote on upcoming deals, PopPicks adds an extra social twist to private flash sale clubs – which, apart from their member-get-member recruitment mechanism, are not hugely social (unlike group-buy sites offering active volume-dependant pricing).

But what we think is interesting about PopPicks is that it could prototype for other sites, of community or content variety,  looking to jump on the social commerce train. Sure, in this case, the site is Kaboodle, a social shopping site so there is a nice fit, but there is no reason why any media site – or brand site – could not implement something similar, to drive revenue and traffic.

For example, rather than hide content behind a paywall, The Times newspaper could monetize readership through flash sales for their readers.  The OC Register is already trialling this.  Or in the spirit of the Financial Times, which is free (for the moment) on the iPad, courtesy of a sponsoring brand, perhaps media sites could experiment with a flash-sales sponsored model on certain platforms.

Likewise, trade magazines like New Media Age could run business-based flash sales on business books, training courses, and conferences instead of shutting out readers.  And for brands – a flash sale feature – a la PopPicks on site – or on Facebook pages for category-related purchases and brand merchandise could provide a business rationale for vanity brochureware.

And for digital agencies and social commerce service providers, is PopPicks indicative of a new opportunity – an out-of-the flash sale Facebook app, or blog, taking the cue from Magento’s flash sale plugin)?

Press Release: Kaboodle Launches PopPicks, Community-Driven Online Fashion Sales

Retail Partners Include Moxsie, Karmaloop, Ssense, Ivy Blue and 80sPurple

SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 26 /PRNewswire/ — Kaboodle (http://www.kaboodle.com), the largest social website for passionate shoppers, today launched PopPicks, an exclusive, members-only online sale destination that allows shoppers everywhere to determine which products are offered at a special price for a limited time.

An ongoing program featuring a new retail partner each week, PopPicks features a collection of products selected by Kaboodle editors in partnership with the featured retailer. Once products are selected, the Kaboodle community is invited to “heart” (vote for) the products they like best.  After four days of voting, the most “hearted” products are made available to Kaboodle members at an exclusive price for four days or until the reserved inventory is sold out. Once the quantities of specially priced items are completely sold, Kaboodlers can still buy the product at its original price. During voting and limited-time sales, Kaboodlers can invite friends to participate via Kaboodle’s peer-to-peer messaging system as well as on e-mail, Facebook, Twitter and other social platforms.

Moxsie, an online fashion retailer featuring independent brands, will be the inaugural launch partner. Explaining the appeal, Julia Kung, Moxsie’s director of marketing, said, “PopPicks is a unique way for Moxsie to unveil cutting-edge merchandise to the alpha consumers who appreciate it. The reason PopPicks is so different and appealing is because it allows retailers to present an interactive experience in a participation-rampant environment. Through PopPicks, Moxsie is also able to extend its reach to a very valuable group of sophisticated shoppers in a measurable way.”

Additional participating launch partners in the coming weeks include other online fashion favorites, Karmaloop, Ssense, Ivy Blue and 80sPurple.

“As the leader in streetwear online, Karmaloop is always looking for exceptional programs that help us expand our footprint in a meaningful way,” said Natasha Chu, Karmaloop’s e-commerce manager.  ”Kaboodle continues to be on the forefront of innovation when it comes to creating distinctive marketing programs that provide consumers with a unique online shopping experience.  This partnership allows us to broaden our online presence through emerging technology and tap into an increasingly important social dynamic around shopping and purchasing.”

The debut of PopPicks reinforces Kaboodle’s leadership position in social shopping as it offers a first of its kind platform that directly integrates social commerce into its online shopping community.  Shari Gunn, chief marketing officer at Kaboodle, explains, “At its core, Kaboodle has always been a way for shoppers to discover, share, and interact with products that have been vetted by other shoppers like them. This new feature extends community empowerment and amplifies their collective voice by allowing them to influence what, exactly, is featured during our exclusive sales events. It also provides an innovative e-commerce opportunity and a new revenue stream for Kaboodle.”

Initially, PopPicks will feature primarily fashion apparel and accessories. Soon Kaboodle will broaden its offering to include sought-after lifestyle brands in home, beauty and gadgets.

About Kaboodle

Kaboodle (www.kaboodle.com) a Hearst Corporation-owned and operated property, is the Internet’s largest social website for passionate shoppers. Kaboodle’s shopping tools allow users to add products from anywhere online to their Kaboodle lists. As a result, it is home to the world’s most exclusive catalog of user-curated products, making it the trusted source for discovering, sharing, and buying products from retailers large and small. With more than 16 million unique monthly visitors and a devoted community perpetually adding more finds, Kaboodle provides the ultimate platform for connecting people with products. Kaboodle was acquired by Hearst Corporation (www.hearst.com) in August 2007 and is part of the Hearst Magazines Digital Media site network.

SOURCE Kaboodle

RELATED LINKS

http://www.kaboodle.com/

http://www.hearst.com/

So did hell just freeze over? Amazon, the grand dame of e-commerce has set up shop with the new kid on the e-commerce block, Facebook, in a curious ménage-à-trois with leading consumer brand manufacturer, Procter & Gamble (photographic evidence below).

What’s actually being sold is P&G’s Max Factor brand, “the makeup of makeup artists”, on a shop tab on the brand’s UK Facebook page. Product pages and shopping cart are in Facebook, whilst the checkout takes place on Amazon.co.uk.

At first glance, this is all quite mad – Amazon surely wants to keep e-commerce to itself, and not invite the unruly social network muscle in on what has been its show for over a decade. P&G wants to irritate traditional retailers – its customers – by selling direct, like it wants a bullet in the head. And Facebook should have no interest in having a hole blasted through the wall of its walled garden to let money flow out, just when it’s investing so heavily in it’s own virtual currency, Facebook Credits, to keep money in.

And yet, it’s genius.

We think this Facebook + Amazon + Brand trinity is a really smart low-risk-high-reward solution for businesses and brands to explore f-commerce, without all those pesky problems of logistics and fulfillment.  And if your products are already for sale on Amazon – then it’s a real no-brainer (and even if they’re not – with Amazon storefront and logistics offered as a turnkey service – it’s still pretty much a no-brainer).  The big advantage is that you can brand the e-commerce experience, keeping people within your Facebook page all the way from conversation to commerce, and then just hand over all the heavy lifting to Amazon.  It’s e-commerce without tears.

It’s a win-win for all involved. Shoppers get the convenience of shopping for their favorite brands within Facebook – linking seamlessly through from brand updates to their walls, getting to use all the social features – chat, likes etc, they know and love, whilst also getting the security of having transactions handled by the most respected name in the field.

For Amazon, it allows the e-commerce behemoth, once considered by some to be a laggard in social commerce, to spread it’s global wings over the largest platform on the Web – social or otherwise – and become the fulfillment partner for all things f-commerce. On the back of Amazon’s recent purchase of social shopping site Woot, any suspicion that Amazon may have missed the boat when it comes to social commerce can be laid to rest.

For Facebook, it allows the world’s favorite website to “stand on giant’s shoulders” (Amazon’s) and instantly become a respected social commerce platform.  Combined with third party providers offering custom storefronts, and the imminent expansion of Facebook Credits facilities, f-commerce is beginning to shape up into a formidable player.

And for P&G – it’s an oh-so-smart – and safe – solution to learn about e-commerce, Direct to Consumer relationships, and most importantly about its brand users.  The vast majority of P&G’s products are already sold on Amazon – so any political risk of upsetting traditional retail customers by opening a new retail channel is mitigated.

When run in tandem with ‘Facebook specials‘ – a term we think we’ll hear a whole lot more for special offers, exclusive deals etc – the Facebook + Amazon + Brand ménage-à-trois becomes a compelling proposition.

And let’s not forget digital agencies – whilst a ménage-à-quatre might be a little crowded, we think there will be a real opportunity for digital agencies to bring brands, Amazon and Facebook together and offer turn-key solutions that fuse the three together.

The social commerce world just got more interesting.

Want to set up a fashion store selling top labels such as Diane Von Furstenberg, Gap, Barneys New York, Juicy Couture, Banana Republic, Tory Burch and TopShop?  Well now you can.

The Sugar Inc. blog network (ShopStyle, PopSugar, FabSugar, BellaSugar) targeting 18-40 women, has just partnered with leading fashion brands to launch a Facebook-based game app, pitched as a ‘FarmVille of shopping’, called Retail Therapy (app, site), where you set up and manage your own virtual store (a bit like the Fashion World and Mall World Facebook apps, but with heels).

The idea is simple and familiar; manage inventory from in-season fashion items, and build your clientele.  Upgrade your retail store with Facebook Credits that you win, earn or pay for – and build the best store in Facebook.

What’s different about Retail Therapy are the brand partnerships, which effectively transform the Facebook game into a vehicle for in-game advertising, and a Facebook promotional platfrom for exclusives, scoops and promotions for brand fans.  What would be really interesting is if the game evolved to include a social affiliate program – whereby visitors to friends stores could actually purchase items for sale – and the store owner receive an affiliate commission.

TechCrunch has posted a video interview (below) with PopSugar’s CEO Brian Sugar – and in an accompanying post suggests that PopSugar, a media company, may have its work cut out to take on the big boys Zynga and IMVU – if it is looking to evolve into a games company.

But virtual social commerce is an interesting twist on social commerce – with many marketing opportunities, and if you are a fashion brand, it’s perhaps worth investigating.  And for non-fashion retail brands too, there’s the opportunity to set up your own Facebook game for in-game advertising and promotions – perhaps a virtual social commerce game for your category…

Now excuse me, please, I have a delivery of Banana Republic Cotton Military Jackets to see to.

Retail Therapy Promotional Video

TechCrunch Interview with Brian Sugar

A heads up on a free Mashable-sponsored social commerce webinar next week (Wed July 28, 12 noon EST) from Alvenda and Hallmark:

“Learn How Hallmark and Alvenda Launched a Social Commerce Channel on Facebook”

Details below, and registration here.  Social Commerce Today will be participating, supporting David Saville, Innovations Product Manager, Hallmark and Wade Gerten, CEO and Founder, Alvenda.

Registration is open now – so head over to the eventbrite site now and sign up for the free event.

Webinar Overview:

Join us for a free webinar about social commerce. David Saville will speak about how Hallmark is fostering genuine relationships with customers on Facebook and directly monetizing those conversations for the first time. He will also discuss how their social media strategy has evolved from a marketing-only approach to include selling. Wade Gerten will provide an overview of how merchants use Alvenda to create social shopping experiences for their customers. And Paul Marsden from Social Commerce Today will talk about the social psychology of social commerce. There will be time for a 10-minute Q & A session after the presentation.

Speaker Information:

David Saville, Innovations Product Manager, Hallmark Cards, Inc.

David Saville brings “what’s next” to Hallmark’s digital product lines such as Personalized Greeting Cards, E-cards, and Hallmark Mobile. David has a breadth of ecommerce experience including business development, new site implementation, and back-office operations. Recently he has been leading the effort to distribute Hallmark’s store into channels like Facebook utilizing Alvenda’s shoplet technology.

http://www.hallmark.com

Wade Gerten, CEO and Founder, Alvenda, Inc.

Wade Gerten is CEO and Founder of Alvenda. Alvenda was the first company to bring ecommerce to Facebook in July 2009 with 1-800-Flowers.com. Since then, Alvenda has been helping merchants create millions of social selling opportunities on Facebook and other websites. Alvenda was founded in 2008 by executives with domain expertise in retail software, online retail marketing, and interactive advertising industries. Alvenda has been featured in Advertising Age, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Business Week, New York Times, WWD, Bloomberg TV, and Techcrunch. Alvenda was also named the grand prize winner of the 2009 Minnesota Cup. Alvenda is funded by Split Rock Partners and is based in Minneapolis, MN.

http://www.alvenda.com/

Dr. Paul Marsden, Digital Ethnographer, Social Commerce Today

Dr Paul Marsden is a social psychologist, marketer and author.  He researches, writes and consults on trends in digital and social media. He is editor of online magazine Social Commerce Today, author of Connected Marketing, and former managing editor of the academic Journal of Memetics.  Paul works as a digital planner and social media consultant to the Syzygy digital marketing group, and as a trainer in online PR for Pinnacle PR. Based in Miami, Paul is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an associate of the FutureLab network of strategic marketing consultants.

http://socialcommercetoday.com/

Incase you’ve missed it, the ever-insightful Paul Chaney, social media consultant, and contributor to Practical E-Commerce is running a series of articles reviewing the growing number of social media store/storefront applications that allow businesses to sell directly within social media – primarily Facebook.

In the first three articles (one, two, three), Paul has cast a critical eye over 1o such social commerce platforms.

• Pavyment (example: Syzygy)
• BigCommerce (SocialShop) (example: Maxigrip)
• Volusion (Social Store Builder) (example: Panna Dolce)
• 3DCart (example: SaltWaterFish)
• Voiyk (example: Salud Cookware)
• ShopTab (example:Little Butterfly Kiss)
• SortPrice (Facebook Store) (example: Petco)
• Shoutlet
• My Merch Store (Zazzle) (example: Mari Smith)
• LetMeIntroduce

Paul’s next article is billed to focus on fully-fledged f-commerce applications with integrated transactions – allowing transactions to take place within Facebook itself. We think it’ll be these one-stop-shop platforms that will take f-commerce mainstream – so we’re looking forward to his review.

It’s good to feel part of something big – so here’s the latest 15 minute inspirational TED talk – from popular science author Matt Ridley (The Red Queen, The Origins of Virtue, Genome, The Rational Optimist) at Oxford University – on “When Ideas Have Sex.”

So what does ‘the sex life of ideas’, whatever that is, have to do social commerce? Well, Ridley argues convincingly that the more trade-based interactions a society makes, the smarter, more advanced, and prosperous it gets.  When commerce happens, it’s not just products and money that get exchanged, but ideas embedded in those products get exchanged too. And as these ideas get exchanged, they get recombined and evolve, like cultural genes – driving technology, innovation and even knowledge forward.  And with digital technology democratizing trade – allowing more people that ever to trade online on social commerce platforms such as Etsy, Ebay and Amazon, more people are contributing to the collective brain, and participating in the evolution of humankind. Cool.

If sex is about exchanging bodily fluids to drive biological evolution, then social commerce is about exchanging ideas to drive social evolution.

For further reading, check out Ridley’s Wall Street Journal Saturday essay - Humans: Why They Triumphed

Just as Yipit, DealRadar, and DailyFlock have emerged as clearing houses for group-buy deals from Groupon, LivingSocial et al, the group-buy phenomenon has given rise to another new business opportunity – marketplaces for buying and selling purchased-but-unused group-buy vouchers.

New marketplace sites such as CoupRecoup, Lifesta, and DealsGoRound allow people to post their hastily purchased gym sessions, beauty and spa treatments, VIP club passes, restaurant reservations etc, name their price, and sell them on (recent TechCrunch and WiseBread commentary).

It’ll be interesting to see if and how these new social commerce sites, pitched as Craigslists for Group-Buy deals, manage fraud (why not use the e-mail voucher AND sell it, by simply printing it off twice?) or the professional eBayers’ trick of snapping up popular concert tickets in bulk and selling them on at a profit (UPDATE – see how lifesta are managing these issues in comments below).

But we think this addition to the flourishing group-buy ecology is smart – aggregation is the future – but we also think it’d be better if Yipit picked up the phone to CoupRecoup, Lifesta or DealsGoRound and combined forces to offer a one-stop shop for buying and selling new and previously purchased group-buy vouchers.

And for brands still on the sidelines of the group-buy social commerce phenomenon, deciding whether it makes sense to use it as a product seeding and word of mouth vehicle for launching new products, we think this emerging ecology of group-buy related sites is testimony to a popular and healthy trend.