Online activity equals online sales?

It’s undeniable that the increasing prominence of social media within society has in turn become an increasingly important driver of sales. For some time, communities have been able to learn about special promotions and services from companies through Facebook, Twitter and a number of other social media sites.

More interestingly, consumers are actually seeking the views of fellow consumers. For example, last Christmas Argos asked its users to submit reviews of products they’d bought. It received 70,000 responses in just one day. Highighting that the best way for a brand to reach out to a larger community is from its site and engage them in a dialogue that helps consumers identify with the brand.

Now, the connection between online activity and online sales emerges when companies realise they need to start establishing meanigful experiences online and create conversation hubs and communities where their influence can drive desired behaviours, both on their websites and in stores. Some industry experts suggest its incumbent on retailers to become more socially savvy and up to commerce leaders to push the technology and enable interactive and valuable experiences online.

 As well as this, it is key that the online experience is more intuitive, easier to navigate and more efficient for people. Online sellers need to make sure product information is clear and concise and that customers can easily navigate pages in a way that’s desirable for them. It has to be enjoyable for the users who will, if enjoyed, pass on the details to friends.

From a retailers point of view, people are interested in new releases, offers and competitions and they find this works best to release this. It’s news people want to hear and therefore that’s what they offer.

The other side of the coin is that retailers don’t socially engage with consumers, someone else will do it for them. So the key is to have an active presence through social media and respond and maintain presence. Social media is no longer seen as a niche. When considering the traffic for social media platforms such as Facebook you see that these are the places people are choosing to spend the majority of their time. Thus, this is exactly where brands need to spend their time listening and they need to do it well. Therefore, it wouldn’t hurt to consider the benefits of developing a top digital pr strategy.

But does this also flag up challenges? In many cases, it appears it is the customer who is driving the trend, not retailers, which makes this a tad unsettling for the more traditional of companies. There is much research that reveals that customers are more likely to believe a recommendation from an unqualified person they’ve never actually met than a company’s own regulated advertising.