After my calculated and yet robust shopping week in San Francisco, some themes emerge: Conscientious spending, an emphasis on environmentally-friendly products, an increased awareness of shopping footprint, and the use of social media for smarter holiday shopping.
Thus I'm boggled & irritated when companies like Deloitte spend time & money for studies leading to article titles such as "Social Media Likely to Impact Holiday Shopping Decisions." Likely to impact? Isn't this a given if you've sat in front of a computer?
Whereas in years past our inboxes were bombarded with the annual flurry Friends & Family email blasts, this season we get our cues from Facebook, Twitter, and Digg notifications. Retailers using Facebook to promote shopping discounts attain "cool brand" status among a youthful & ad-resistant online demographic, and effect an insiders' club feeling with Facebook Fans' Only discounts. Last week, Toys"R"Us became the fastest growing brand on Facebook with a fans-only preview app and promo code. This speaks not only to the concern of brands to attract customers through social media, but also to the various demographics that signed up: Both genders, Moms who tend to household shopping, the increased number of Dads who now stay at home, and the online marketing generation now growing into adults with budding families of their own.
Not too many years ago when I was glued to my chair monitoring holiday e-commerce sales daily, editing copy, and checking inventory, the Ghost of Christmas Future could've brightened my winter mood to the year when two funny appellations would make holiday shopping so much more fun: iPhone and Twitter. The Gilt Groupe iPhone app sends sales alerts to your iPhone, and their Twitter page has holiday tips and deals. These far more entertaining shopping channels draw the shopper's eye away from paid search engine links and save retailers from wasted clicks.
I have to agree and found this very interesting :-)