Social Commerce is the future

Recommendations make the best advertisements

We all know how powerful word-of-mouth marketing can be.

The average consumer takes the recommendations of his or her friends at a much higher face value then a random advertisement or coupon in the mail. In the real world we trust the opinions about products, companies, brands and services from our closest friends and family. If a friend has tested and enjoyed a product he will often communicate this to you and this will increase your chances of purchasing it or recommending it to other people. It is in our nature to trust those close to us more than strangers.

We are all spending more and more time on the Internet and on social media sites in particular. Sites like Facebook, Google+, Twitter and Pinterest are now occupying more of our time than most other forms of media consumption. It is what we visualize on these sites which affect us in the real world.

Everyday we see what our friends and family like, and even purchase in our social feeds. The social web has helped expose us all to thousands of products, brands and companies which we would of never seen or even heard of.

The discussions about that new dress being sold at your favorite store or hip new sunglasses all the youngsters are buying are now public and around the clock. If you like what comes into your feed, you simply share it with a click or a tap and you instantly influence all those connected to you.

More transparency means more trust

Thanks to the social revolution and our innate desire to express ourselves on a personal level, the Internet has become much more transparent. Services like Disqus, Facebook connect, Twitter and many others have given unprecedented influential power to those who understand the nature of the social web and have the drive to engage.

Almost every area of the web is becoming more personalized thanks to the explosion of social in every industry online.

Yotpo stands at the front lines in the battle to help make the e-commerce world more transparent, especially in the area of product reviews.

Yotpo’s 5 levels of validation helps those that read reviews published on its platform understand the legitimacy of the review and thus make a better judgment if to buy the product or not.

This year over a trillion dollars will be spent online and this number will only grow in the future. If we are moving towards a primarily online economy then we will need the similar levels of trust and transparency that we experience in the physical world. Companies like Yotpo are helping to bring about a brighter future for the entire industry and pave the way for a successful transition.

Let us know what you think social commerce will do for online businesses and the future of the industry by posting your thoughts in the comments section below.

About the author:

Alexander Sibert is a freelance web developer from Germany who works with Magento and Drupal. For the last 15 years he has worked in the IT and Internet industry.