In the past week, three big social networks made major moves in ecommerce, signalling that the social web will soon be much more shopper-friendly.
First was Twitter‘s acquisition of CardSpring, a company that enables purchases with debit and credit cards linked to digital promotions, like electronic coupons and loyalty programs. In a blog post announcing the acquisition, Twitter head of commerce Nathan Hubbard explained the company helps merchants run online-to-offline promotions.
It’s likely Twitter will use CardSpring’s team and technology in a similar way. For example, a retailer could offer a deal or discount on Twitter and ask users to enter in their card information. When they make the purchase, online or offline, the system would recognize and apply the discount.
Facebook also made a significant move in ecommerce, announcing it is beta testing a “buy now” button. The button appears in the corner of a sponsored Facebook post, giving users the chance to buy a featured item without leaving the site. The social network is currently testing the product with small-to-medium sized businesses in the U.S.
Lastly, Pinterest announced a partnership with the Ottawa-based online shopping platform Shopify. In a blog post, Vivian Chow, head of partner operations at Pinterest, said Shopify stores will now be eligible to use the site’s “rich pins” which offer extra information like availability and price.
The post also noted that Shopify already sees a great deal of traffic from Pinterest, which has proven itself to be a leading traffic driver for retailers, even when compared to much larger sites like Facebook.
Vine user racks up 1 billion loops
Vine hit a milestone when one of its most popular users, Lele Pons (3.4 million followers), became the first account to reach over one billion loops. The massive number should be taken in context, however, considering loops are not akin to views. Because vine videos play over automatically, many of Pons’ loops likely came from users watching the same vine loop multiple times in quick succession. Still, the milestone shows that Vine has gained some solid traction and created micro celebrities out of its popular users. The app has caught the attention of marketers, too. Though it has yet to introduce an ad unit, brands are making hundreds of vines and paying for product placement in vines by users with large followings.
Target partners with YouTube stars
For the back-to-school shopping season, Target has partnered with a group of popular YouTubers to create a video series about decorating dorm rooms. The first video in the 16-part series, which will be hosted on the YouTubers’ accounts, comes via Todrick Hall, who is known for his choreographed group dance numbers and original series like Pop Star High and parodies like Snow White and the Seven Thugs. In the video, Hall goes shopping with two roommates and dances up and down Target’s aisles.
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The Numbers
Ad dollars are moving towards social campaigns. At the same time, more marketers than ever are investing in video, the cornerstone of many social ad campaigns. eMarketer recently compiled several U.S. studies on social and viral videos. Here’s a by-the-numbers look at the results.
44
Percentage of senior ad execs who said social campaigns will see the most growth this year
30
Percentage of senior ad execs who said viral video production will see the most growth this year
7
Percentage, by contrast, of senior ad execs who said TV ad production will see the most growth this year
44
Percentage of U.S. smartphone owners who said they watch viral videos on their phones
37
Percentage of tablet owners who said they watch viral videos on their tablets
