Research finds a lack of concentration on making sites more social is missing a chance to increase purchases
Research finds a lack of concentration on making sites more social is missing a chance to increase purchases
Consumers use social media as inspiration when shopping online but are reluctant to use links from social sites to buy, according to a new survey.
Instead they are looking for brands to make their own sites more social and invest more in developing ways for their consumers to share photos, videos and product reviews.
Research carried out by digital consultancy MPG Media Contacts and online market researcher Lightspeed Research showed that nine out of 10 consumers have purchased online in the past six months, but that three out of four said that they have never followed a link from Facebook to make a purchase.
Social media influences purchase decisions
A third (rising to 42% for 18-34s) said their purchase decision has been influenced by social media, with almost 47% of those who use social media sites for inspiration being inspired by images, 46% taking recommendations from friends and 38% looking at brand pages on social networks. Four in 10 also said they ask for opinions on their purchases on social media sites.
Meanwhile, 42% of 18-34 year olds said they actually had their minds changed about something they were planning to buy because of something negative they had seen on a social media site.
Friends’ opinions are most trusted
The research also found that the strength of blogger recommendations is starting to dwindle compared to friends’ recommendations and visuals. On a scale of 1 to 7 (seven being the lowest) blogger opinions were marked at 5, while photos were scored at 3.5 and posts from friends being 3.6.
When questioned about m-commerce, there was an acceptance that this area was growing, with 20% of those who had received location-based messages using the information. But there was still distrust around payment, with 27% of those who hadn’t purchased via their mobiles citing not wanting to submit bank details into a mobile device as their reason for not doing so.
A quarter of those not currently purchasing on their mobiles are also looking for brands to rebuild their sites for mobile and complained that screen sizes are too small complete registration forms, therefore blocking routes to purchase.
Brands should seize opportunity
Amy Kean, head of consumer innovation at MPG Media Contacts, commented: “The ‘social shopper’ wants to be inspired by elements of social media such as photos and friend reviews, but does not necessarily want to purchase from social sites.
“This is a huge opportunity for brands. Social media is about window-shopping, and inspiration is just as important as the e-commerce basket. Brands need to apply the same rules to our social displays as we would our stores.”
Ralph Risk, Lightspeed Research marketing director, said: “While our research shows that social commerce may not yet be delivering for many brands in terms of purchases, the importance of social influence cannot be dismissed. Shoppers are influenced by various media and having a joined up strategy, while ensuring there is an easy path to purchase, whether social, mobile, online or instore, is the best way to meet customer expectations."
The research was carried out by MPG Media Contacts using Lightspeed Research’s online panel via nationally representative survey of 1,000 respondents, alongside a business-to-business survey of members of the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA) and questions answered from MPG Media Contacts’ Fabric Panel of UK families.
