Petouhoff - Like my stuff: how to get 750 million members to buy your products on facebook

Why Do Business on Facebook?

How Does F-commerce Work?

Completing F-commerce Transactions Inside Facebook

Facebook Storefronts as Gateways to Brand Sites

Social Marketing with Facebook Plug-ins

Linking F-commerce and E-commerce

Utilizing Facebook Credits for F-commerce

Creating Convenience with F-commerce Gift Cards

F-commerce Exclusive Offers, Discounts, and Rewards

Customer Interaction and F-commerce

Engaging Customers on Facebook

Customer Support as Added Value on Facebook

Creating Word-of-Mouth Buzz to Drive F-commerce

Socially Responsible F-commerce

Customer Service Enhanced with F-commerce

Capturing Customer Data with F-commerce

First there was e-commerce. Amazon and eBay led the way. This has been followed by thousands of retailers, from Kmart to Delta to 1-800-Flowers to Home Depot, selling billions of dollars of merchandize each year on websites. In those models, an individual company has to promote its e-commerce platform to get people there to buy.

According to audience measurement and tracking firm comScore, currently U.S. retail e-commerce spending went up 14 percent Online retail spending reached $37.5 billion, primarily due to an increase in the number of buyers (up 16 percent), with 70 percent of all Internet users making at least one online purchase. comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni states that almost $1 in every $10 of discretionary spending in the U.S. now occurs online.

But what if a company tapped into the communities where their customers were already on and offered them the same things there? Social Commerce does just that. Simply stated, it is e-commerce on social networking sites.

From the customers point of view, what would matter most:

• A half-dozen reviews from people you dont know?
• A coupon for 10 percent off a product for your first visit to the site?
• Recommendations of twenty of your best friends that bought, use, and love the same product?

Social networking sites are allowing brands to use plug-ins and widgets to connect and encourage customers friends to comment, displaying visible discussion threads, thereby creating social shopping experiences that are fueled by word-of-mouth marketing. While e-review sites have driven e-commerce (or prevented it if there are a lot of negative comments about a product or service), the idea of having people you know comment and recommend products they like is the premise of Facebook commerce, also known as f-commerce.

With over 750 million active users on Facebook, there are more potential customers using Facebook than there are logging into eBay and Amazon combined. Some customers may not see Facebook as a purchasing platform yet, but more and more businesses are adding features so customers can browse and/or buy their products on Facebook. By reading this book you will be at the forefront of a huge movement in social media commerce.

This e-book is about how Facebook is transforming into an e-commerce platform. It is written to help you understand what f-commerce means to business owners, large and small. It includes practical examples of brands that have deployed Facebook e-commerce and how you can use f-commerce in your business.

Why is it important for brands to have a Facebook e-commerce capability? Mike Fauscette, an analyst at IDC Consulting says, In three to five years, 10 percent to 15 percent of total consumer spending in developed countries may go through sites such as Facebook.

Why might Fauscette make this prediction? Facebook users spend 700 billion minutes per month in an active, relaxed environment. The average Facebook user is connected to 130 friends. They belong to 80 interest groups. Through their detailed profiles and by posting on average 90 pieces of content per month, Facebook users make their preferences known. Word-of-mouth (WOM) recommendations or buyer-beware messages are prevalent.

Todays social customer is not shy about posting their thoughts about a brand, its products and services, or the experiences they have with the brand. The unique selling opportunities Facebook can offer has gotten the attention of digital marketers and PR professionals. As social media plays an increasingly more important role in purchasing decisions, brands are allocating larger parts of their marketing budgets to engage with their consumers on platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

Many brands, big and small, are wondering if they should go down this path. How is this different than the e-commerce they already offer? And does f-commerce mean that you have to get rid of your traditional e-commerce platform? Its these and other questions we will address in this e-book.