The Impact of Social Shopping Sites

In his provocatively titled blog “Impact of Social Sites on Retail Sales Less than Thought”, Grew Howlett references a recent JupiterResearch study estimating that “social and community sites influence only about 12% of online shoppers to buy more than planned.”

According to Howlett:

There are two things about social sites that make them unattractive to shoppers–inefficiency and lack of fundamental information. Shoppers are simply unwilling to wade through lots of biased and incomplete data on social sites. However, 29% say that they use social sites to reaffirm decisions.

So while only a small percentage of online shoppers say social sites caused them to purchase more, a full 29% of online shoppers say that social sites can actually help them decide what to buy. This feels revolutionary – if nearly one third of all shoppers use social sites to help them figure out what to buy, then the opportunity is huge. More than ever, sites that gather independent information that can help that 29% decide what to buy – how to spend their money wisely without a vested interest in the outcome – will be increasingly important. Sites like Wize.com, that is. That’s what we think – we’d also love to hear what you think.