I first wrote this post for the Lift Summit blog, where I’ve been contracted to create posts to promote awareness for the event (for money). They have been awesome enough to let me repost it here.

So you know that Lift Summit is all about social commerce and that it’s a part of social media, but what is social commerce exactly? Social commerce, or social shopping, is a way for consumers to get a social experience when shopping online.

There are three types of social shopping sites (Wikipedia):

1. Group shopping sites (like Groupon) where groups of people can buy together for wholesale prices.
2. Shopping communities (like Kaboodle) where like-minded people can discuss, share and shop.
3. Recommendation engines (like Amazon) where shoppers can give other shoppers advice on products.

The other part of social commerce is sales campaigns that take off through social networks. For example, Gap recently had a one-day promotion through Foursquare that gave anyone who checked into any of their stores 25 percent off their purchase.

In his post, “The Rise of Social Commerce”, Brian Solis talks about the growth of social networks for commerce.

• 23% of Twitter users follow businesses to find special deals, promotions, or sales
• 14% of users take to the stream to find and share product reviews and opinions
• 25% of consumers connect with brands on Facebook to recieve discounts
• Facebook and Twitter visitors spend 1.5x more online than average Internet users

Social commerce is beneficial for both customers and businesses. Customers can save money and get help choosing the right products. The convenience of shopping online with the comforts of shopping with friends. For businesses, these sites can provide information about users and their interactions.

On September 23, Lift Summit will host keynote and panel sessions focusing on monetizing your social media efforts, including sessions specifically about social commerce.

Lift: The B2B Social Commerce Summit is a “must attend” event for marketing executives, senior management and business owners looking to apply real-world social tactics that drive sales lift to their business. This year’s event will take place on September 23 in Atlanta.

Photo by paulamarttila