Social networking sites were created to connect to family, friends, co-workers, and used as a tool to find lost or new contacts. It was an instrument used to connect people all over the world, making communication inexpensive and intuitive. It was a platform used to share ideas, thoughts, and creativity. But times have changed, technology is a staple in our everyday lives. Knowing this, retailers have made social networking sites their allies in order to influence users to buy their products. To elaborate, according to Gartner, “74 percent of consumers rely on social networks to guide their purchasing decisions” (Bidgoli, 186). It is a scary notion to think that consumers rely on social networks to guide them, as if to say consumers are no
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Instagram is a social network mobile app that allows users to photo-share, and video-share. It allows users to share their photos and videos publicly or privately. Furthermore, users can share what they post to other social networks, such as, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. Today Instagram has about 500 million active users. According to an article on Hootsuite.com, “Not surprisingly, 55 percent of all online 18- to 29-year olds in the U.S. are using Instagram, according to the Pew Research study. The next largest Instagram age demographic is 30 to 49 years-old at 28 percent usage followed by 50 to 64 year-olds at 11 percent” (Hootsuite, 2016). These statistics represent the 83% of Instagram users under the age of 50. What this means to Instagram is opportunity, companies want to reach out to millions of users and are able to that through social media platforms. Social Commerce is available to businesses using Instagram as a platform. Businesses are able to promote their products or services by sharing their stories to an audience of 500 million. According to a report on Business Insider, “We find that Instagram is largely made up of urban, youthful demographics, with a significant skew toward women” (BI, 2016). Bloom & Wild is a company based in the United Kingdom, that allows customers to send an arrangement of flowers with a click of a button. Each bouquet is hand-picked and designed by a professional flower florist. They have …show more content…
Social commerce sites include features like customer ratings and reviews, user recommendations and referrals, social shopping tools and online communities. These features create a trusted environment where friends, family and acquaintances dynamically contribute content to the referral and sale of goods and services though positive and negative feedback, reviews, ratings and testimonials regarding their experiences past & present. Therefore, the research and purchasing cycle are not determined by the establishment but by the power of many. Social commerce is a trusted environment of which prospective consumers make buying decisions based on the advice of a network of friends and family, not strangers they don’t know or trust. Social Commerce has an impacted the economy. In 2011 in the U.S. it generated 1 billion dollars and 4 billion in the rest of the world. “In 2014, the estimated global social commerce revenue was projected to amount to $20 billion” (ready cloud, 2016). Currently, experts say that this number will grow by 50%, exceeding $30 billion by the year’s end”. That being said, competition has increased because of the growing trend in social commerce. “Research shows that these individuals visit social networks as part of their everyday shopping behavior and use images they see on social media sites to inspire purchases” (marketing week, 2016). Group buying
Instagram is a social network mobile app that allows users to photo-share, and video-share. It allows users to share their photos and videos publicly or privately. Furthermore, users can share what they post to other social networks, such as, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. Today Instagram has about 500 million active users. According to an article on Hootsuite.com, “Not surprisingly, 55 percent of all online 18- to 29-year olds in the U.S. are using Instagram, according to the Pew Research study. The next largest Instagram age demographic is 30 to 49 years-old at 28 percent usage followed by 50 to 64 year-olds at 11 percent” (Hootsuite, 2016). These statistics represent the 83% of Instagram users under the age of 50. What this means to Instagram is opportunity, companies want to reach out to millions of users and are able to that through social media platforms. Social Commerce is available to businesses using Instagram as a platform. Businesses are able to promote their products or services by sharing their stories to an audience of 500 million. According to a report on Business Insider, “We find that Instagram is largely made up of urban, youthful demographics, with a significant skew toward women” (BI, 2016). Bloom & Wild is a company based in the United Kingdom, that allows customers to send an arrangement of flowers with a click of a button. Each bouquet is hand-picked and designed by a professional flower florist. They have …show more content…
Social commerce sites include features like customer ratings and reviews, user recommendations and referrals, social shopping tools and online communities. These features create a trusted environment where friends, family and acquaintances dynamically contribute content to the referral and sale of goods and services though positive and negative feedback, reviews, ratings and testimonials regarding their experiences past & present. Therefore, the research and purchasing cycle are not determined by the establishment but by the power of many. Social commerce is a trusted environment of which prospective consumers make buying decisions based on the advice of a network of friends and family, not strangers they don’t know or trust. Social Commerce has an impacted the economy. In 2011 in the U.S. it generated 1 billion dollars and 4 billion in the rest of the world. “In 2014, the estimated global social commerce revenue was projected to amount to $20 billion” (ready cloud, 2016). Currently, experts say that this number will grow by 50%, exceeding $30 billion by the year’s end”. That being said, competition has increased because of the growing trend in social commerce. “Research shows that these individuals visit social networks as part of their everyday shopping behavior and use images they see on social media sites to inspire purchases” (marketing week, 2016). Group buying