Stat Attack: Secret to UK Social Commerce Success – Exclusives, Deals & Recommendations [Survey]

”Brands need to offer exclusives, powerful recommendations, discounts and group-buying to create a more social shopping experience”.  That’s the conclusion of  the Havas Media Social 2011 Social Commerce Survey in the UK (n = 1007, representative, June 2011) conducted by Lightspeed. Amy Kean, Director of Social Media at Havas recommended brands against simply replicating their online store in Facebook – social commerce has to offer something new, exclusive – and social.  And if you want a road map for doing just that – check out our latest report – Social Commerce: The Opportunity for Brands.

Here’s a run down of the Havas findings of the research (usual caveats about survey research and faster horses apply). One stat that caught our eye was the consumer interest for group-buy services for friends (as opposed to strangers), allowing friends to club together to get group-discounts.

• 77% of consumers would like special deals from brands that they can redeem through Facebook
• 30% of people like brands on Facebook to get special offers
• 25% of consumers would purchase a product on Facebook if it wasn’t available anywhere else
• 11% of consumers would buy on Facebook if it was a fan-only exclusive
• 55% would “check-in” to a venue or store via a site such as Facebook or FourSquare to get special deals
• 70% of people would be more likely to buy things on Facebook that were targeted to them based on their interests or previous shopping behaviour
• 60% of men and 48% of women would be interested in a group-buy for friends service
• 40% of people have received special offers from brands on Facebook
• 40% of people receiving deals on Facebook have redeemed the offer
• 89% of people have yet to buy anything on Facebook
• 44% are not currently interested in buying on Facebook
• 17% would buy from a social network if it was easier than the traditional ecommerce experience
• 22% would buy from Facebook if they could do so from a brand they know and trust
• 44% believe a social network store is less less secure than a regular ecommerce site
• 53% of consumers were more likely to look up information about a brand if a friend had recommended it
• 17% are more likely to buy from a brand if it is recommended by someone they know
• 65% of respondents say that they would only ever spend between £1 and £50 on a social site such as Facebook
• Clothes, music and tickets for entertainment were cited to be the most likely type of product that consumers would buy on Facebook
• 6% of people believe they are likely to buy a holiday on Facebook
• 38% of people believe that none of their online shopping over the next year will be conducted via a social network
• 51% state that social network e-commerce is likely to account for less that 10% of their online spend
• 28% of people like brands to enter a competition
• 35% of people stop following brands because brands post too frequently
• 33% of people stop following brands because posts become repetitive or boring