By Chris Lee

Social networks now send nearly 13 per cent more traffic to online retailers than in 2009, according to research out recently. Online competitive intelligence service Experian Hitwise also found that social networks accounted for 11.6 per cent of all UK Internet visits during September 2010, representing a year-on-year growth of 4.3 per cent.

Experian Hitwise found that online retailers are increasingly relying on traffic from social media to drive sales and interest in their products. In September 2010, 9.1 per cent of visits to the “Shopping” and “Classifieds” category came from social media, up around a percentage point since September 2009.

Within online retail, the “Music” category relies most heavily on traffic from social networks, Experian Hitwise said, with 11.3 per cent of all traffic driven by social networking, up five per cent in the last 12 months. Meanwhile, the “Video and Games” space also receives over 11 per cent of its traffic from social media.

National pastime

“Social networks are rapidly becoming the nation’s favourite online pastime. As more time is being spent on social networking sites, we are seeing retail brands tapping into the power of social media to drive online traffic and sales,” said Robin Goad, Research Director, Experian Hitwise. “As our analysis shows, most of the online retail categories have seen an increase in traffic coming from social media this year with music, video and games leading the way. The challenge for companies is still how to successfully use social media without infringing on what was previously considered a community space.”

According to Goad, those brands that get it right will reap the rewards, citing smart phone BlackBerry, which now receives more traffic from social networks than search engines largely because of the brand’s commitment to engage with consumers online.

Best practice

Experian Hitwise say that while the three dominant players are Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, fast moving sites such as Vimeo, Badoo and tumblr have all at least doubled their online traffic in the last 12 months.

Facebook accounts for 55 per cent of all visits to social networking sites, making it by far the biggest social network in the UK. It is also the second biggest source of traffic to all websites after Google. Approximately one in 10 visits to a website in September came immediately after a visit to Facebook, up from one in 13 visits back in September 2009.

So what should retailers be doing to engage more effectively on social networks?

“It is important that retailers understand which social networks their customers and potential customers are using,” Goad told NMK. “Facebook is the dominant social network in the UK, accounting for over half of the market, but at Hitwise we track over 9,000 other social networks. Many of these cater to niche audiences, and therefore allow for more targeted marketing:  a company selling fishing rods, for example, will want to be present at the places where fishermen hang out online.”

Shopping in the future

According to some estimates, the majority of website visits in the UK will be via mobile handsets will by 2013, so does this mean that retailers need to adapt their offering for a mobile audience?

“While mobile Internet use is growing rapidly and entering the mainstream, most of this usage is related to communication, information and entertainment rather than commerce,” Goad said. “However, it is unlikely that this type of mobile commerce will overtake ‘traditional’ Web-based commerce for a while, so retailers need to think more creatively about taking advantage of the mobile channel. Successful retailers will be those that support their customers across multiple channels depending on the scenario – allowing customers to add items to wish on the go, integrating location based services to provide (opt in) special offers and discounts, mobile price comparison via photo or barcode recognition.”