Subject areaChannels and tools
Also known associal buying
Social shopping is shopping that starts from conversation between people: reviews, advice, comparisons and shared lists steer the choice before the customer reaches the checkout.
The logic is that people trust those who resemble them more than an advertising message, and online commerce has built places where that trust can be expressed.
The site's articles place it in Web 2.0, next to blog marketing and PPC advertising (pay per click), and recall a European origin: in France the Minitel is considered the cradle of social shopping before the internet, and the first dedicated sites and comparison engines such as Kelkoo were born there. After the financial crisis the emerging model, once ignored, found its legitimation. Today its heir is social commerce.
Source: Articoli del blog di Enrico Giubertoni su Buzzes.eu, e-commerce e storia del commercio elettronico, per il riferimento al web 2.0.
An example
A person is weighing up a pair of shoes: they read other customers' reviews, see what contacts they trust have bought and ask for an opinion in a group before paying. The purchase starts from the conversation, and the shop is the last step.
Enrico Giubertoni. Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0: you may quote, translate and adapt this entry with the author’s name and a link, stating any changes. For commercial use, write to info@enricogiubertoni.com
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