CorpComms Magazine

More than four out of ten shoppers (45 per cent) 'check in' at a store using Foursquare while 62 per cent carry out competitive price checkswhile shopping, according to a survey by marketing agency Performics.

The online survey of more than 1,000 participants found that 41 per cent use search engines on their mobile devices to look for product information while one quarter will wait to receive feedback via a social network before they will make a final decision on buying the item. Four out of ten said that they would wait up to ten minutes for feedback.

One fifth of respondents who are active social networkers will browse the social networks and daily-deals sites such as Groupon to find special deals and discount codes.

The survey revealed that more than half of shoppers went on social networking sites to share their shopping experience after they made a purchase.

Performics found that men are much more active in the social shopping scene than women, but that women control 80 per cent of the household spending. Despite this, the survey found that the majority of shopping advertisements are considered to be targeted at women.

Indeed, men are more likely to research product information, read reviews, compare products and find availability and store information online, while women are more likely to search for deals, coupons and special offers.

Dana Todd, senior vice president of marketing and business development at Performics, said: 'Given recent reports of 'digital dads' and increases in shared shopping activities across genders, this new data is intriguing. We've layered social network behaviour with shopping patterns and the results are helpful for marketers trying to predict how social shopping figures into upcoming holiday campaigns. Many may not have considered specifically targeting men in social ads.'

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