Social shopping is a method of electronic commerce that takes all of the key aspects of social networks-friends, groups, voting, comments, discussions, reviews, etc.- and focuses them on shopping.

Social shopping helps shoppers connect with one another based on tastes, location, age, gender, and other selected attributes. The nature of shopping is changing, especially shopping for brand-name clothes and related items.

There are several methods to shop socially.

Ratings, Reviews, and Recommendations

Prior to making a purchase, customers typically collect information such as what brand to buy, from which vendor, and at what price.

Online customers do this by using shopping aids such as comparison agents and by visiting Web sites such as Epinions (www.epinions.com).

Today, customers also use social networking to guide their purchase decisions. They are increasingly utilizing ratings, reviews, and recommendations from friends, fans, followers, and experienced customers.

Ratings, reviews, and recommendations are usually available in social shopping. In addition to seeing what is already posted, shoppers have an opportunity to contribute their own ratings and reviews and to discuss rating and reviews posted by other shoppers.

• Customer ratings and reviews: integrated into the vendor’s Web page, a social network page, a customer review site, or in customer feeds (e.g., Amazon, iTunes, Buzzillions, Epinions).
• Expert ratings and reviews: views from an independent authority (e.g., see Metacritic).
• Sponsored reviews: paid-for reviews (e.g., SponsoredReviews, PayPerPost).
• Conversational marketing: individuals converse via e-mail, blog, live chat, discussion groups, and tweets. Monitoring these conversations yields rich data for market research and customer service.

Group Shopping

Group shopping Web sites such as Groupon (www.groupon.com) and LivingSocial (www .livingsocial.com) offer major discounts or special deals during a short time frame. Group buying is closely associated with special deals (flash sales).

People who sign up with LivingSocial receive e-mails that offer deals at, for example, a restaurant, a spa, or an event in a given city. They can click on either “today’s deal” or “past deal” (some past deals can still be active). They can also click on an icon and receive the deal the next day. Customers who purchase a deal receive a unique link to share with their friends. If a customer convinces three or more people to buy that specific deal using his or her link, then the customer’s deal is free.

Individuals can also shop together virtually in real time. In this process, shoppers log on to a Web site and then contact their friends and family. Everyone then shops online at the same time. Some real-time shopping providers, such as DoTogether (www.dotogether.com) and Wet Seal (www.wetseal.com), have integrated their shopping service directly into Facebook. Customers log in to Facebook, install the firm’s app, and invite their friends to join them on a virtual retail shopping experience.

Social Marketplaces and Direct Sales

Social marketplaces act as online intermediaries that harness the power of social networks for introducing, buying, and selling products and services. A social marketplace helps members market their own creations. Other examples include the following:

• Craigslist (www.craigslist.com) provides online classifieds in addition to supporting social activities such as meetings and events.
• Fotolia (www.fotolia.com) is a social marketplace for the community of creative people who enjoy sharing, learning, and expressing themselves through images, forums, and blogs; members provide royalty-free stock images that other individuals and professionals can legally buy and share.
• Flipsy (www.fl ipsy.com) can be used by anyone to list, buy, and sell books, music, movies, and games.

Peer-to-Peer Shopping Models

Peer-to-peer shopping models are the high-tech version of old-fashioned bazaars and bartering systems. Individuals use these models to sell, buy, rent, or barter online with other individuals.

For example, many Web sites have emerged to facilitate online sharing. SnapGoods created a community of people who rent goods to people in need, usually for the short term.

SnapGoods helps these people connect over the Internet. All of these peer-to-peer sites encourage collaborative consumption-that is, peer-to-peer sharing or renting. This trend is the result of the recession, because people had less money to spend and turned to sharing and renting. However, it has an environmentally “green” aspect as well. One of the most surprising benefits of collaborative consumption, however, turns out to be social.

In an era when we may not know our neighbors that well, sharing things-even with strangers we have just met online-allows us to make meaningful connections. Some people share cars, and others invite travelers to stay in their homes for free.

Shopping Communities and Clubs

Shopping clubs host sales for their members that last just a few days and usually feature luxury brands at heavily discounted prices.

Club organizers host three to seven sales per day, usually via e-mail messages that entice club members to shop at more than 70 percent off retail-but quickly, before supplies run out.

Luxury brands effectively partner with online shopping clubs to dispose of special-run, sample, overstock, or liquidation goods. These clubs are rather exclusive, which prevents the brands’ images from being diminished.