1. Social Commerce Trends Report
Key takeaways from Social Commerce Summit 2010
April 19-21, 2010

2. 2
TRENDS REPORT
Each year, the Social Commerce Summit
brings together innovative brands and thought
leaders to share best practices and trends in
social media.
At the 2010 event held in Austin, Texas,
Mitch Joel, author of Six Pixels of Separation,
explained that social media is the first and
only real medium where users create their own
experiences. It’s the first channel where brands
have to force themselves in, because users
are in control, so they must “invite” them in;
“my” Twitter experience is different from
“your” Twitter experience. Mitch is excited
because marketing is finally back to being
about real interactions between real people.
While companies are still in control of their
brand, the amplified consumer voice is equal
to the brand’s voice.
The customer voice is a form of viral media,
meaning that it evolves naturally – not in a
forced or “branded” way. Douglas Rushkoff,
author of Get Back In the Box, first coined the
term “viral media,” which was meant as a type
of media or message that evolves naturally,
is invited in by users, and replicates just like
any type of information a user wants to share.
It’s called “viral” because, like a virus, it feels
natural, like it’s a part of the eco-system, and
replicates as part of the natural system of
sharing. A virus gets invited into the body
because it looks and acts like a normal cell,
then it replicates just like a normal cell.
Today, consumers use social media in many
ways, including making a variety of purchasing
decisions – from buying clothing and electron-
ics to selecting insurance or a new bank. This
paper uncovers the trends from this confer-
ence and includes insights from some of the
thought leaders who attended.
Contents
Most social commerce begins with experimentation.............................................................................3
Consumers are closer than ever to the people who actually
create the products they buy and use...................................................................................................4
ROI varies, but it must always be measured..........................................................................................5
Social commerce can – and should – spread throughout
the entire business and across all channels...........................................................................................6
Search informs much of how people shop online..................................................................................6
Digital Millennials are changing shopping..............................................................................................8
To be successful, make the most of your unique influencers................................................................9
The potential downfall of social media? Privacy..................................................................................11
What will social commerce look like in a year?...................................................................................11
Your next steps.....................................................................................................................................11
Sources and contact information.........................................................................................................12

3. 3
Most social commerce begins
with experimentation.
Bazaarvoice CMO Sam Decker encourages
organizations to “Be the conversation. Your
brand and the products you sell are a reflection
of the conversations that are happening out
there.” He outlines three roles companies
should take to facilitate conversations and
use them to improve products.
Be like a parent. Parents have commitment,
perspective and give guidance. Try new things,
learn, and realize that today is just one step in
your evolution. Look at results as a moment
in time. Focus on gathering data and content
from your users.
Be a good host. Make it easy for your
“guests” (consumers) to share their opinions
and meet others like them. Keep them
engaged, which will bring more people to
the “party” (your site). When you facilitate
conversations online, you’ll help people
make good purchase decisions, creating an
asset that builds over time. This is different
than what most traditional marketing does;
you’re engaging people to help themselves
and others.
Be a prospector. Look for gold. Start with
the basic, business-driving metrics such as
number of site visits driven by user-generated
content, sales conversion, and average order
value. Then use customer participation to go
beyond your site – ask for customer stories
via Facebook, or put ratings information on
in-store fact tags. Spread this content to
shoppers wherever they are, to help them
regardless of where and how they shop. This is
where true transformation occurs – beyond the
walls of your online community.
Social commerce evolves, according to
Manish Mehta, VP Social Media and
Community for Dell. He suggests there are
five phases of social commerce evolution.
Experiment. The social web originally began
as an experiment.
Product. Soon, products were created to
facilitate social media, such as MySpace,
bulletin boards, forums, and more.
Application. Companies such as Dell attached
“social” to their products by adding customer
reviews to products at dell.com. They were
able to measure increases in sales and
other metrics with this application of social
media, so they continued to build out social
communications throughout their business
Build-out. Once Dell gathered reviews,
they shared them with other divisions
to improve customer service and
product development.
Connect and scale. Today, Dell and other
brands work to connect all their social inputs,
wherever consumers want to participate.
They combine all inputs to build relationships
and commerce, gain further insights, and
understand the entire customer experience.
Bazaarvoice CMO Sam Decker advises brands
to be good parents, hosts and prospectors.

4. 4
In a similar way, golf and tennis retailer Golf-
smith learned a lot on its journey into social
media. When they launched their Facebook fan
page in 2008, they didn’t focus on selling; their
page began as more of a brand and customer
service play. When they responded to custom-
er complaints on Facebook, Golfsmith learned
that those customers were more likely to come
back to Golfsmith.com.
Today they use Facebook and Twitter for
customer feedback. For example, in 2009 they
asked customers to vote for their favorite de-
signs for holiday gift cards, and they have also
asked customers if they would use a mobile
application, to help Golfsmith determine if they
should create one.
And experimentation goes beyond the internet.
Google’s Sameer Samat noted that brands
should also experiment with mobile to let
consumers search for and find specific infor-
mation, whether they’re in a store or on the
road. Google has seen an exponential jump in
Google shopping queries from mobile devices.
Consumers are closer than
ever to the people who actually
create the products they buy
and use.
“Technology, media and branding create
a problem for people who want to make
companies better; they distance companies
from real consumers,” said Douglas Rushkoff,
“and the mythology of a brand means that
products don’t have to be as good as they
used to be. In social commerce, where
consumers can share their experiences directly
with other consumers – without the mythology
of branding between them – consumers must
be close to the products and the people
actually creating products. With the use of the
Internet today, those who produce products
don’t have to be huge corporations; they can
use social commerce to get input from, buy
from, and sell to others.
Rushkoff points out that social media
promotes honesty and peer-to-peer
communication, letting users exchange
products, goods and services – and opinions
– directly amongst themselves. This actually
takes us back to the times of the real bazaar –
where trade and commerce were done face to
face, among individual people – not between
faceless corporations and consumers.
“Social media speaks to the geeks,” he says.
“We know Google has the smartest, craziest
people working for them because their social
media strategy shows us the geeks at the
middle. Social media is a shift from technology
and media that separate you from consumers
– social media brings you closer to the people
who actually use your products.”
Rushkoff advises keeping the people who
create products close to the people who
use them. Marketers have to embrace and
encourage their true believers – far beyond just
people who recommend your products. These
must be true believers of your culture – not
your “brand” culture but your actual culture.
For example, when Urban Outfitters customers
ask questions about specific products online,
often the product designer will respond directly
to the question. In addition, team members
from Best Buy and Dell both said that they
refer to customer reviews when developing
new products or improving existing ones.

5. 5
ROI varies, but it must always
be measured.
Just because social media is a new way of
communicating doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be
measured. Like any promotional or marketing
tactic, objectives must be set and tracked –
and they should ultimately track to bottom line
company goals.
Golfsmith tracks hard impact (dollars) and
soft impact (things like branding, staying
top of mind, which are harder to track) to
determine which social media they continue to
pursue. For example, they track all links from
Facebook and Twitter and look at customer
interactions on their site. To effectively track
soft impact, they developed a score card
which measures trends for traffic, sales, likes,
posts, customer services, mentions, retweets
and more across all their social networks.
Golfsmith recommends that brands tag all links
to user-generated content to understand how
people who read or contribute user-generated
content interact with the site. For example,
Golfsmith found that those who interacted
with customer ratings had 11% higher revenue
per person, a 2% increase in AOV and a 9%
increase in conversion. The most interesting
finding was that a full 18% of all Golfsmith
visitors interacted with customer Q&A or
reviews between January and April 2010.
Douglas Rushkoff contends that the goal of
social media isn’t sales; it’s meant to build the
culture of your industry. It can start with the
culture in your company and extend to the
culture of your customer, your shareholders,
your partners, and your competitors. But,
ultimately, it’s the culture of the thing you do.
The new organizational chart for a genuinely
social organization puts the most competent
people – those who design and create the
products – in the middle, but still close to
the customer. Ideally, every employee in the
company stays very close to the customer.
Seth Greenberg from Intuit adds, “Give up the
idea that it’s not about the money. It is about
the money. People are talking about you online
– it’s happening whether you’re involved or
not; it’s okay to set goals, set a bar.”
Manish Mehta from Dell advises companies
not to get head-faked by “shiny objects.”
Keep your eyes on what’s important to your
business, and make decisions from this
point. He also reminds brands to stay open to
different types of ROI. The ultimate challenge
in social media involves putting a value on
relationships, networks and connections.
Get Back in the Box author Douglas
Rushkoff says product creators must stay
close to product users.

6. 6
Social commerce can – and
should – spread throughout
the entire business and
across all channels.
Social media is unique because anyone can
participate – much different than traditional
advertising. For example, Golfsmith gets their
entire organization involved in social media.
They display their entire Twitter feed in their
offices, so anyone can see what people are
saying about Golfsmith at any time, and the
appropriate people jump in to help customers
in need. Golfsmith also uses customer reviews
and ratings in all types of marketing, and they
have looked at customer support questions
before and after the launch of their online Q&A
solution to understand how online questions
and answers can help them reduce customer
support calls. They also look for new ways
to connect their social networks; today
Golfsmith’s Facebook page helps people
engage, then directs them to Golfsmith.com
to make purchases.
Google’s Sameer Samat recommends
that brands leverage the entire shopping
ecosystem – multiply the value of all
content — by making it available beyond
the organization’s site. For example, Google
Product Reviews Program is the first program
that lets online brands use their full review
content to directly impact natural search,
mobile, and Google advertising results. Brands
can expose star ratings to searchers, put their
logos next to their reviews, and link directly
back to the product page where a searcher
can buy. This lets the consumer reviews
gathered on the site help consumers who are
still just searching for products.
Manish Mehta from Dell suggests that
companies embed “social” in every function
of the organization, from sales to product
development. Embed social information and
culture across the fabric of your business; it
shouldn’t just be about sales and marketing
– get your products, support, and human
resources teams to think socially and
transparently, too.
Search informs much of how
people shop online.
More and more of today’s shoppers begin with
search – most of them with Google. 87% of
internet users have used the internet to browse
research and compare products in the last
year (eMarketer Report, March 2010). 45%
of in store purchases are influenced by online
research (Forrester 2009). Sameer Samat,
Director of Product Management for Google,
highlighted three industry trends that drive
Google’s strategy: online-to-store shopping,
mobile, and social.
Google’s Sameer Samat encourages brands to think beyond their sites.

7. 7
Many people are first researching online, then
going to a physical store to make purchases.
Retailers should think cross-channel;
consumers will interact with any channel
they want, when they want. Many retailers
have divided brick-and-mortar and online
responsibilities within their organizations,
which contradicts this trend. The linear
shopping trend is being shifted; consumers
expect a more cohesive experience. Innovative
retailers are tearing down some of these walls,
not letting “their organizational chart show up
in their marketing or product development,”
according to Sameer.
Aligned with the localization trend is the
promise of mobile: the ability to target users
on a one-to-one basis. A mobile phone is
not shared, it’s usually on and with you at all
times. It knows a lot about you, your calendar,
your social network, and it’s location-aware: it
knows where you are.
Currently two thirds of the world’s population
have mobile phones, and smart phones
are expected to eclipse PC sales by 2012.
Google’s internal data has shown a 3000%+
growth in mobile “shopping” queries over the
last three years; mobile queries to Google now
exceed online queries in some geographies,
and the number of queries issued to Google
Maps products has grown substantially.
Retailers are testing in-store traffic based on
online traffic in specific DMAs.
Google has added click-to-call ads on mobile
devices, which is good for local businesses
because the phone knows the closest location
for the user, so he or she can call with
one click. Innovations in mobile have only
just begun.
Google realizes that “social” is just the web
catching up with life. Each minute, more than
24 hours of content is uploaded to YouTube,
and 270,000 words are written every minute
on Blogger. If you do a query on Twitter
every morning on “What to wear,” you’ll get
responses every few seconds. Even if a brand
isn’t mentioned, participants are still talking
about products.
Sameer suggests making these trends part of
a company’s operational plans. For example,
retailers should make sure they have 3G
mobile coverage in all stores, making it easy
for customers to bring information from the
web directly into store aisles. He also suggests
that UPC codes for products be prominently
displayed, so people with mobile phones can
easily scan them to get online information with
new smart phone applications.
However, Mitch Joel believes that, with the
increasing connectedness of everyone, search
will actually be less pervasive in shopping.
He believes people will get information from
friends, then purchase immediately, such as
through their smart phones.
To illustrate this point, he spoke of a dinner
he had with two other bald men. They started
talking about how they shaved their heads,
and one of them suggested a razor that has
a vacuum in it. One of them found it on
Amazon.com via his smart phone and
purchased it immediately.

8. 8
Digital Millennials are
changing shopping
Millennials are ages 10-28, and they make a
$200 billion contribution to our economy each
year. They have become our largest generation,
bigger than the baby boomers; there are about
82,900,000 Millennials. Resource Interactive
has researched Millennials since 2006 and has
uncovered key defining traits of millennials.
Defining traits of Millennials
»» Perpetually connected – they are never
without their phones and are heavily
engaged with social networks.
»» Multi-tasking and “productive” – they are
watching TV, homework and online at once.
»» Filtering for immediacy and control – they’re
smart about marketing and will filter it out.
»» Self-expressive yet assimilative – they
express individuality, but it’s also very
important to be part of the group.
»» Optimistic and self-entitled – they’ve grown
up in very affluent times until just the last
few years.
Kelly Mooney interviewed a panel of four
Millennials at the Social Commerce Summit,
made up of males and females from age
13 to 23.
Millennials explain that they’re
always connected.
»» They all prefer Facebook and use it a lot;
none of them regularly use Twitter.
»» They use Facebook mostly for socializing;
they are not sure they would shop
via Facebook.
»» Privacy could be the downfall of Facebook;
it’s very important to have control over
who sees your profile.
»» They send more than 100 texts per day;
they are constantly texting.
»» In large college classes, students will see
hundreds of laptops open to Facebook;
some are watching Hulu.com with one
earbud speaker in, while “listening” to
a lecture.
The recession has had an impact
on Millennials.
»» The recession has made some of them
not want to buy as much as they did in
the past.
»» They’re spending less today; waiting for
sales and coupons.
»» Their parents are giving them less money
than they did in the past.
»» The 13-year-old who still lives at home
must work harder to earn money from
her parents now.
Resource Interactive’s Kelly Mooney interviews four typical millennials.

9. 9
»» None of them have their own credit cards;
they’re fearful of credit cards and are more
comfortable with debit cards. If they don’t
have the money for something, they don’t
buy it. They see their parents have a hard
time keeping up with their credit cards so
they are less likely to use them.
Social media influences their shopping and
purchase decisions.
»» They research purchases carefully, asking
their friends and family, and customer
reviews. Some post questions on Facebook
to their network about products.
»» If they are “fans” of a brand on Facebook,
too many messages from a brand can
become annoying.
»» Some of them use Foursquare or Gowalla;
they may be interested in getting offers
when they “check in.”
They have unique interactions with media.
»» They watch most of their TV on Hulu.com;
they only watch “real” TV for sports.
»» None of them have magazine subscriptions;
they get most of their information and
news online.
To be successful,
make the most of your
unique influencers.
Social media levels the playing field,
making consumer contributions as loud as
– or sometimes louder than – the corporate
marketing message. Dmitri Siegel, Executive
Director of Marketing, Urban Outfitters, shared
how this unique brand – with independent,
creative consumers – uses social media to
take core business values and blow them out
exponentially. According to Siegel, “We don’t
have a logo. We don’t have a style guide. We
have a spirit.” Their social strategies reflect this
spirit and get their customers involved. Here
are some guidelines Dmitri suggests.
There are some people you want to be
friends with, and some you don’t, just like in
any social situation. Urban Outfitters started
out by featuring some of its customers on
its blog – people they or their customers
“want to be friends with.” They interview their
customers to draw in others who share the
same lifestyle/style.
But don’t be a snob – don’t ignore people.
To get all types of consumers involved – not
just the fashionistas or style mavens who
regularly review products. Urban Outfitters ran
a contest where consumers submitted images
of love, so anyone could submit something
creative. The company also embraces different
uses of its products – photo reviews show
the way people actually wear Urban Outfitters
clothes, even paired with clothing and
accessories that does not come from Urban
Outfitters. Their products don’t really come to
life until people show exactly how they actually
wear it in the real world.
Be a good listener. This is basic. Urban
Outfitters gets about 1,500 reviews per week;
they read them and dig into them. You also
see what it’s like to be your own customer.
For example, one woman said that a shirt she
purchased was too big, but she cut it and wore
it off the shoulder, and submitted a photo of
her new creation. This gives Urban Outfitters
a relevant data point about how the product is
actually used.

10. 10
Ask good questions. If you put a good
question out, you’ll be amazed at what you
get. For example, last year Urban Outfitters
did a “lo-fi, high style” sweepstakes/contest,
where customers shared the cool things they
had created for cheap. When Urban Outfitters
started getting photographs from their
customers, they saw that they are beautiful
and creative. Today, when Urban Outfitters
mashes up their own professional photos
with those submitted by customers, even the
marketing team can’t tell the difference – which
is exactly as it should be. Urban Outfitters’
customers are creative and inspire Dmitri and
the design team.
Make some introductions. Urban Outfitters
added community Q&A to their site, which
created a good format for introducing
customers to one another; they now get about
400 questions each week. Other customers
as well as Urban Outfitters designers respond.
The more people you can get involved in the
conversation, the better the experience.
Stop talking about yourself so much. Being
social allows you to let your customer be the
voice for awhile; be quiet, ask questions, and
see what they have to share.
You need a good party spot. It must be
free to participate. For example, Urban
Outfitters has often unsigned bands perform
in its Backlot, their back parking lot behind a
flagship store, and they stage similar events
around the country. They’ve been doing these
events for years, so now tens of thousands
of people watch them through their live
broadcasting. During and after the events,
they feature cool people they met in their
blog and on Twitter.
Music can really set the mood. Urban
Outfitters has Music Mondays on Twitter,
giving away hundreds of thousands of songs
each month; it’s a top topic on Twitter each
week. They usually feature unsigned bands,
and play these songs in their stores, too,
which creates a sense of discovery in the
store. Urban Outfitters believes that if someone
recommends good music to you, their level of
credibility goes up.
Be spontaneous. Urban Outfitters shares live
links to their in-store events, so customers can
watch even if they’re across the country.
Don’t take yourself too seriously. Anybody
can be cool, but awesome takes practice.
Social media is a chatty medium; be authentic
to your voice.
Be vulnerable – share information to
get information. When Urban Outfitters
encouraged customers to send photos of
their mothers as part of a Mother’s Day
contest, their team members sent in their
own photos, too.
Keep in touch. These relationships have real
value – keep them going. Keep up with the
people you have interacted with.
It’s less about numbers; more about one-
to-one connections. Social media can’t be
measured solely by number of people who
potentially see the information, like traditional
advertising is measured. The deep connections
with individuals build over time and create an
annuity that continues to grow.

11. 11
The potential downfall of social
media? Privacy.
Users must be able to control who sees their
information, and brands must be responsible in
data sharing and usage.
Manish Mehta from Dell claims that the big,
scary risk of social media could be privacy.
Marketers must be mindful not to blindly
promote social commerce growth at the
expense of privacy (or even the perception
of loss of privacy).
A panel of four Millennials – digitally-enabled
people between the ages of 10 and 28 – said
that they must be able to control who sees
their information on social networks such as
Facebook. They are also reticent to share
details about how they spend their money and
are fearful of credit cards, partially due to the
fear of identity theft.
What will social commerce
look like in a year?
The third annual Social Commerce Summit
lets us look back over the years to see the
true evolution of social commerce. Two years
ago, topics revolved mostly around retail
and customer ratings. Today’s brands are
taking social commerce – including all social
interactions with consumers – seriously.
Companies are learning to relate and act more
as people, breaking down inauthentic walls of
“marketing-speak.” And they’re experimenting
and building best practices along the way.
The 2010 Social Commerce Summit reflects
a moment in time. We’ll keep you posted on
what continues to evolve.
Your next steps.
These insights should answer some questions,
but raise even more. Bazaarvoice is the world
leader in social commerce, serving top brands
across a huge variety of industries. Visit us
at www.bazaarvoice.com and schedule a
demo, where we’ll help you understand how to
connect to consumers, build engagement, and
drive measurable return on investment.

12. 12
Sources and
contact information
Presentations excerpted in this paper came
from the following sessions at the 2010 Social
Commerce Summit, April 19-21, 2010. For
more information on this and future events,
visit socialcommercesummit.com and
socialcommercesummit.co.uk.
»» From Participation to Transformation
Sam Decker, CMO, Bazaarvoice
Twitter: @samdecker
Email: sam.decker@bazaarvoice.com
»» Social to the Core: How New Media -
Unlike Marketing - Forces You to be
Competent Again
Douglas Rushkoff, author,
Get Back in the Box
Twitter: @rushkoff
Site: rushkoff.com
»» The Bottom Line: Measuring Social
Media to Deliver Business Value
Manish Mehta, VP Social Media
and Community, Dell
Twitter: @Manish@dell.com
Site: huffingtonpost.com/manish-mehta
»» How Golfsmith measures ROI
Jamey Maki, Director of E-Commerce
Twitter: @golfsmithhq
Email: jamey.maki@golfsmith.com
»» Who are Digital Millennials and How
are They Changing Shopping? – a panel
of Millennials
Interviewed by Kelly Mooney, CXO,
Resource Interactive
Twitter: @pkmooney
Site: resourceinteractive.com
»» The Social rEvolution at TurboTax:
Friendcasting the age of media anarchy
Seth Greenberg, Director of National
Media and Digital Marketing, Intuit
Twitter: @sethg
Site: linkedin.com/in/sethgreenberg
»» How Urban Outfitters Makes the Most of
its Unique Influencers
Dmitri Siegel, Executive Director
of Marketing, Urban Outfitters
Twitter: @dddmitri
Site: dmitrisiegel.com
»» Organizing the World’s Information
for Shoppers
Sameer Samat, Director of
Product Management, Google
Site: linkedin.com/pub/
sameersamat/0/6b/530