Speed summary of 7 top f-commerce tips in the New York Times from Doron Simovitch, co-founder and CEO of shopping search engine and Facebook e-commerce solutions provider SortPrice (running Facebook storefronts for over 1000 businesses and brands (Adobe, Brookstone, PetCo).
Bottom line, if you’re just going to port your e-commerce store into Facebook, don’t bother – you need to make the f-commerce experience exclusive and unique, and make a commitment to fan-engagement and fan-incentives. We couldn’t agree more. Smart words SortPrice.
- Engage users creatively (and consistently) with likeable wall posts to support your f-commerce offering
- Provide exclusivity with promotions, discounts and sales that are exclusive to your Facebook fans
- Attract new fans with added incentives with one-time promo codes, coupons or discounted shipping for those Liking your page
- Solicit input by asking your fans directly how you can improve the f-commerce experience
- Make Facebook a PR tool with wall posts that provide news beyond retail – such as charitable and community service initiatives
- Incorporate Facebook into Customer Service by enabling customer product reviews, a forum to share shopping experiences, and proactively, publicly and transparently addressing customer concerns
- Keep an eye out for new features and tools with new f-commerce tools such as flash sales, group-buy offers, and contests – designed to may the f-commerce experience more fun and social
Great tips, users should also feel the brand’s presence on Facebook by actively engaging with them. Make users feel special by responding to their comments and sharing content generated by fans. F-commerce makes it easier for brands to develop a good community around them which makes all social efforts worthwhile.
Offering Incentives & Sweepstakes appears to be one of the most powerful ways to attract and engage users on Social Commerce platforms such as Facebook. Once engaged, it gets viral from there on. Useful and informative article.
If there was one area that many businesses fail to get right when it comes to f-commerce in particular is that they haven’t made their facebook shopping experience unique. Too often we see businesses trying to replicate their e-commerce presence on facebook. Here’s a white paper VendorShop put together to help businesses understand how to create and execute an effective f-commerce strategy – http://www.vendorshopsocial.com/a-guide-to-getting-the-most-from-your-facebook-store/
[…] And now for a summary of a synopsis of a report on how to refine and streamline your f-commerce efforts. For those of you who weren’t sure, f-commerce is the strategy of connecting to one’s customers and consumers through Facebook. The first rule of the f-(commerce) club is that simply porting your e-commerce store onto Facebook won’t cut it. The trick is to create a dynamic, interactive experience, capitalizing on the nature of social media. That involves producing likable wall-posts, providing exclusive promotions and discounts, soliciting constructive feedback from fans, and offering a forum for general communication, reviewing, and the like. Read summary #1 at socialcommercetoday.com. […]