Social shopping networks are a form of shopping in which the experience is shared with friends and other online acquaintances, who offer recommendations or critiques of products and services.
Social shopping uses the technology and format of social media networking to augment the user's online and in-store shopping experiences. While early forms of social shopping were necessarily focused on e-commerce, the common use of smartphones and other mobile devices has extended social shopping to brick-and-mortar stores, as well.
There are various types of social shopping sites. Some encourage buyers to buy in groups in order to avail themselves of bulk discounts. Others include elements of a product review site, where people recommend or discourage others from buying products they have tried. There are also niche shopping communities in which users buy products directly from one another.
Social shopping sites are the natural extension of people researching products on the Internet prior to making a purchase. Most Americans view the Internet as their most trusted source of shopping information, and peer-to-peer recommendations are particularly credible.
Social shopping networks differ from product review networks in that their function is to facilitate sales. The networks might generate revenue from advertising and click-throughs, as well as through the sharing of information about their users with retailers. Users are motivated through a sense of give and take, where they benefit from the recommendations of other users, while they give something in return. However, some social shopping networks offer financial incentives in the form of gift cards, and others include users who are themselves offering products for sale through the network.
As in other social networks, users of shopping networks usually set up profiles, and may follow other users who they may know personally, or whose recommendations they particularly value. There may also be chat rooms, discussion forums, or other interactive features. They might also be able to upload photos, video, and other media.
The focus of this category is on social shopping networks.
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Members are invited to operate and manage a free online store, using the network, and online shoppers can choose from a wide range of products to buy from friends and others worldwide. Advertising products and services are available, and members may share photos and video with their communities, join groups, schedule or view events, as well as online news, and member pages. Other features include blogs, articles, games, and classified advertising.
https://www.etsocial.com/
Foop is a social commerce platform, which includes business to business and business to customer exchanges, involving friends and family members in the buying process, sharing ideas, offering opinions, getting new ideas, and building their own social quotient. Members may buy or sell on the platform, resell products without inventory, and sell to other businesses, and business owners can network with stakeholders and customers. Shoppers can shop as a group for better prices.
https://www.netree.in/
Founded in 1995, Galleria Social is a global social network for online shoppers and vendors, where information and ideas can be exchanged, and where member vendors can exhibit their products or services, control their professional identity, and increase productivity through networking with other businesses and professionals, and where all members can buy or sell, seek employment or employees, and collaborate on projects. Chats, forums, groups, and albums are available.
http://www.galleriasocial.com/
Part of the Qurate Retail Group, HSN is a shopping community for people eighteen and older, who are invited to create a profile and to participate in games, polls, chat rooms, discussion forums, messaging, blogs, customer reviews, and other customer-submitted content. General information about the network is provided, including policy information, guidelines, and security information. A program guide, channel finder, and an overview of its flex-pay system are included.
https://www.hsn.com/
Pikaba is a social shopping platform that connects consumers with the most appropriate local business. Shoppers may ask for whatever it is that they are looking for, and sellers will offer special offers and deals, after which the shopper can choose the best offer, share with friends, or put together buying groups in order to get better deals from merchants. Sellers can open a full-featured store through Pikaba, upload products, and get instant notification of sales leads.
http://www.pikaba.com/
