Social shopping refers to a form of e-commerce shopping that involves shopping online and sharing the experience via social networking. The aim of social shopping is to recreate the interactions that occur between people while shopping at traditional stores and shopping centers. Social buying (also known as social shopping) is the latest buzzword in commerce. It combines e-commerce and social media. It features all of the key elements of social networking, such as communicating with friends, casting votes, and creating groups, and all of these elements are focused around shopping.
The Benefits of Social Buying
One of the main benefits of social buying is that it’s easy. Unlike traditional e-commerce shopping where you have to search through several different websites in order to find the products you are looking for, social buying brings a wide array of products all into one space on the web.
Another advantage of social buying is that it allows for easy comparison shopping. Additionally, you can find reviews of products and find out what other people are saying about the items you are interested in purchasing before committing to them.
Types of Social Buying
Social buying can be divided into different categories, including:
- Group shopping. This includes sites like Groupon, which encourage large groups of people to purchase items together in one space at wholesale prices.
- Shopping communities. Shoppers communicate with each other regarding different products, prices, and any deals they may find.
- Social shopping marketplaces. These marketplaces connect buyers and sellers together. It includes sites like Etsy and Polyvore.
- Recommended engines. These type of social buying allows people to share their advice with others, similar to asking another shopper what they think about an item in a store.
