Will Social Media and Shopping Ever Go Together?
Social media has similarities to, but is not the same as shopping with others in a social way. The content and context of social media in its present form is way up the purchase funnel; disassociated from the notion of purchase. A product or brand's presence in social media serves to perhaps influence and maybe inspire, which puts it squarely in an old advertising model. Not much social, really, about that. Do I attribute higher value to a product because my friends are credited with doing so on Facebook? Meh. It's still advertising.There may be an opportunity "between" the social platforms. Something apart from the platforms that can aggregate my likes may have merit. When apps talk to apps on our behalf we may see (and be able to track) social media's influence on purchases. Will Facebook or Twitter have a wish button that loads products onto my Amazon wish list? Likely not, but think about it. It could work.
RetailWire Braintrust Blog: http://www.retailwire.com/author/chuck-palmer/
