CorpComms Magazine

More than half (56 per cent) of all online shoppers follow retailers on social networking platforms to find out about discounts and offers while 49 per cent do so to ensure they are in the know about the latest products available, a new study has revealed.

Deal of the day sites, such as Groupon which launched in 2008, are becoming more popular but 81 per cent of those polled have never bought from a 'group-buying site'.

The 2011 Social Commerce Study, compiled by Shop.org, comScore and Social Shopping Labs, found that the average consumer follows six online retailers,  and 42 per cent do so via Facebook, Twitter or blog pages.

Almost seven out of ten (67 per cent) of those that follow retailers via Twitter claim that they have clicked through to a website because of a post made on the social networking platform.

This revelation follows recent research that shows online retailers use social media channels for more than brand awareness, realising that traffic can be directed towards their website with enticing tweets and Facebook posts.

More than one third (35 per cent) of consumers surveyed said that they would buy a product directly from Facebook while 32 per cent have bought on Twitter.

Facebook claims that there are more than 200 million active users who access the social network through their mobile devices, and that they are twice as active as non-mobile users. 

Fiona Swerdlow, head of research at online retail specialists Shop.org, said: 'The popularity of mobile devices will only boost the power of social commerce, which presents an incredible opportunity for retailers.'

The research found that 47 per cent of those surveyed actually use their smartphones while in-store to access online reviews about products.

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