I currently work in a Retail store where using social media has become one of the company's top objectives for 2011. Social Media such as Facebook and Twitter has become an interest to many big name retailers such as Macy's, City Furniture, etc. What I have seen thus far is the usage of facebook to either advertise events, major promotional deals and even when they currently have job openings that may interest their followers and/or "friends". But when retailers such as Macy's and even Charlotte Russe use Social Media as a promotional option what are they really looking for and what are the benefits. I visited one location in particular and saw that they're promotional items that week were primarily being advertised for Facebook users. If you "like" the company on facebook you get an additional 10% off ANY item in the store. They want to be your fashion best friend and how else other than being your facebook friend. Once a consumer "like" the page what does the company get in return. A sale they otherwise may not have been able to attain had they not added an incentive. Once you "like" a page on facebook your hit with automatic updates in your minifeed as to what's new and what's a hot item at that particular retailer. They even associate celebrities with their items to increase the attentiveness of the consumer. Twitter is another Social Media outlet in which for some retailers if you retweet what they ask you to retweet, there's an incentive to encourage you to make a purchase at their store. I've personally observe the excited consumer once they realize that a simple "like" on facebook or a retweet will ensure savings on an item that they would want to buy.
All in all, Social Media definitely works to a company's advantage when it comes to sales.
Erica Devieux
http://sparxoo.com/2010/06/08/how-retailers-are-using-social-media-to-promote-sell-and-engage/
Yes, I agree that retailers are benefiting from social media, but as long as they keep it simple. Providing users with 10% off coupons as incentives to make purchases online or in-store, will probably lead to a slight increase in sales for that week. I think the most valuable information would be in comparing the number of likes people made for a discount, and the number of actual coupons used for purchases. A customer wanting a discount does not always lead to a customer using a discount. So, at what point does a click become a connection? Even though there is no clear negative to offering this incentive, it is definitely misleading in our online social world. The numbers are skewed in the eyes of the users [customers], which defeats the purpose, or does it?
ReplyDeleteCompanies do benefit from the additional sales but it does not always guarantee customer satisfaction. There are plenty of businesses now that will try to advertise any type of saving to push their product/services to the consumers, however are these methods actually effective in producing future sales for the business. Also these businesses look to seek a lifetime customer through the social media website but sometimes the fan's page is overloaded with their ads and Facebook/Twitter users become annoyed with the repeated ads on their timeline.
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