What Does Social Media Have to Do with Retail?

Social media has taken industry by storm.  Initially put off as a novel communication game for ‘kids’, social media, including Facebook, Twitter and Myspace (although MySpace has been marginalized by the others), have developed real business applications.  So much so, that marketers are trying to figure out how to apply it at all the various consumer touchpoints, including retail.  The question is, how do you make Twitter, and other such technologies, relevant in a store experience. 

In March of this year, Arc Worldwide conducted a survey of shoppers examining how they connect social media and shopping.  They found that at this point social media is more of a pre-shopping device.  It influences brand perception and provides product information from trusted peers before the shopper gets to the retail outlet. However, social media is slowly making it’s way into the store.  Manufacturers and retailers are already experimenting with shopping assisted by smartphones.  Wall Street Journal reports that Best Buy will be employing the Shopkick app this summer which pushes advertisements through to shoppers’ phones while they’re in the store.  “With the Shopkick app, the retailer will know who individual shoppers are and can communicate, ‘when you need it, and how you want it,’ says Rick Rommel, Best Buy’s senior vice president of new business.’ Mobile retail is evolving in the US but has yet to catch up with Japan who has been out front with what they’ve coined ‘m-commerce.’

PSFK reports on multitouch displays that resemble Wolf Blitzer’s touch screen wall panels.  These life-sized screens would allow “groups of people to simultaneously engage.”  Shoppers could pull up product opinions  and information without having to talk to a sales associate. Future Of Retail: Massive Multitouch Displays – PSFK.

Instore Marketing Institute has reported on many of the technologies being explored to integrate social media and retail.  The implications are vast and growing as technology begins to catch up.