Popular social platforms are playing out a major part in reshaping the holiday sales spectrum this season. Well conceived and interesting marketing campaigns and promotion, harping on the user friendliness nature of their offerings, have helped shore up profit margins for retailers.
They sense the keenness on part of buyers to seek attractive deals without getting caught up in the Black Friday rush, and trying to capitalize on it. Online shopping is deriving added momentum thanks to advent of social media and its rising popularity. An element of customization, carrying a personal touch to it lures people into the social shopping sphere.
Harrisburg University’s Charles Palmer points out you can well gain from knowing about good deals via networking channels, and by sharing things with friends. Different Black Friday shopping ideas were discussed and shared on sites like Facebook and Twitter. According to findings of shopping site Nextag, nearly 5 percent of the holiday shopping took place via Facebook.
Facebook gifting gets popular
Facebook gifting seemingly draws impulse shoppers in large numbers. Facebook gift cards are invariably displayed on the wall of its recipient. A major portion of gift card sales occurs during the festive season of Thanksgiving extending into Christmas celebration. Popular social platforms act as a perfect foil to boost the activity.
According to experts, the actual information flow and promotions on Facebook are more oriented toward the consumer. On the other hand, Twitter is being used as more of a quick communication medium. Walgreens employed it for pushing a mobile app that would send coupons to the users’ smartphones. Disney Store’s interactive campaign consisted of a Twitter ‘concierge’.
Disney Store employed a team of people assigned with the task of answering customer tweets as quickly as possible. The team members would get back within half an hour, giving tips on aspects ranging from what to buy a five-year-old child in the $25- $30 range to appropriate places to park at a mall in order to arrive nearest to the store’s location. The queries could be anything, and that’s what keeps them all on their toes.
According to an estimate, discussions on networking platforms leading up to Cyber Monday rose in volume by an impressive 115 percent in comparison to the last year. Consumers were primarily sharing idea on using price comparison sites while staying clear of cyber scams, frauds, special Cyber Monday deals announced for international consumers as well as their Black Friday in-store shopping stints and experiences. They are sticking to social media channels to strike out smart deals sans the frenzy of ‘holiday’ crowd rush.
Apart from the two most prominent channels Facebook and Twitter, retailers are turning to sites like Foresquare. For instance, J.C. Penney has pledged a fixed sum in charity for each user ‘checking in’ to its stores Friday morning.
