Social shopping, this is one of the latest trends in this digitally driven society and has become the hanging out at the mall, of the past. Source <> http://www.ecbilla.com/ecommerce-articles/e-commerce-trends/how-to-make-your-ecommerce-store-social-ready.html

1. How to Make Your eCommerce
Store Social Ready?
Social shopping, this is one of the latest
trends in this digitally driven society and
has become the hanging out at the mall, of
the past. However, it is no longer just the
tweens and teens who are taking
advantage of the social features that are
available. There are customers of all ages
that are embracing these new digital
offerings, which are giving them more
choices than ever before, as well as more

2. opportunities to interact with the brands
that they love and are loyal to through
barcode scanners, QR contests and
innovative outfit builder apps.
The term social shopping is a type of
“catch-all” term that refers to anything
from sharing an idea about an outfit on
Pinterest, or tweeting a number of
different coupon codes. With the use of
m-commerce, or mobile commerce,
steadily increasing, the need to connect
with your shoppers through mediums
other than web pages is higher than ever
before. Taking advantage of the power of
digital marketing is important for an
eCommerce website owner when trying to
get the right results from this venture.
So now the question is posed of how you
take advantage of this continually growing
trend?

3. Bridge the Gap
Several recent studies have shown that
there are a large number of retail stores
that are completely missing the
opportunity when it comes to being able to
connect with their online shoppers with
their offline information. Most stores will
display the hours and locations on their
website, but completely ignore the need to
provide information on their services and
products via social media.

4. The Solution is to bridge the gap. You need
to search for methods that will bring your
online customers offline by developing a
number of ways to merge your social
media efforts with local promotions and
online shopping. Some ideas to get started
are highlighted here:
Email an exclusive coupon code that will
provide a discount when it is used at the
bricks and mortar location;
Leverage your mobile marketing efforts
beside the in-store displays that you have
to provide limited time discounts or
notifications for a flash sale.
A general consensus among most shoppers
is that receiving a personalized deal on the
service or product that you offer is an
excellent method to increase sales and
enhance loyalty. However, these very same
customers are somewhat reluctant to

5. divulge their personal data. Studies have
shown that up to 13 percent of consumers
are willing to share their social media info,
but up to 57 percent of customers are much
more likely to make a purchase from a
retailer that takes efforts to keep them
updated with the latest sales and deals.
So what does this mean? A majority of
consumers are also willing to provide their
zip code or email address, which means
that you have to make efforts to determine
what your customers are willing to offer in
terms of personal information and let them
know what they will receive in exchange.
Some suggestions to help you achieve this
include:
Use laymen’s terms instead of hard to
understand legalese in the privacy policy
to let customers know exactly how their

6. information is going to be used;
All the frequency of communications to be
altered by your customers.
The Power of Keywords
The next thing that a person will need to
do when trying to make their eCommerce
site more accessible is to use the power of
keywords. If you fill your product
descriptions and homepage content with
the right keywords, it will allow you to get

7. more traffic. Most people will go online
and search for particular terms when they
are looking for certain products to buy.
Ideally, you will want to make sure that
your eCommerce site will have the
keywords people will most likely search
for.
The best way to get the right keywords
used on your eCommerce site is by
working with digital marketing
professionals. They will be able to figure
out what type of keywords your particular
industry is ranking for. The money that is
paid to a professional for this type of help
will be more than worth it considering just
how beneficial it can be over time.

8. Starting a Blog on the Website
Another great way for you to get attention
for your eCommerce website is by taking
the time to get a blog started. People are
always looking for new information and by
supplying them information about your
products and industry, you will be able to
garner much more attention for your
website.
Most business owners will not have the
time or the talent to get this type of blog
started. The best way to make sure the

9. quality content needed is produced is by
finding a professional content writer to
work with. Before hiring a writer for this
type of job, a business owner will need to
take the time to research their previous
work. Getting this type of information will
allow a business owner to figure out
whether or not a writer is the right fit for
the job at hand.
What the Future Has in Store for Social
Shopping
Social shopping is still somewhat new,
however the future is very bright. There
has recently been a release by Micros
Systems that provide a new platform that
allows retailers to share data via their
ecommerce websites, point of sale systems
and their mobile apps using APIs. This
results in marketers having the ability to
leverage their campaigns based on things

10. such as the where and how of customer
shopping.
Using the tips here you can ensure that
you ecommerce store is ready to emerge
into the realm of social shopping and take
advantage of the increased sales that you
can achieve. The work that is put into your
eCommerce site will more than pay off due
to the success it will garner. Working with
the right professionals is a vital part of
getting ahead in the world of ecommerce
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