As we’ve now been seeing, the majority of the first generation social shopping networks have begun to re-orient themselves. The most interesting aspect of this are the developments which now lead social shopping in the direction of the personal shopping network. With this comes the question: how personal can the social shopping experience become?
Etsy competitor 1000Markets is currently experimenting with the “Shop with a friend” solution from Quorus. On all the product sites there is a Q-Button “Add to Discussion”. Using this button the user can trigger a discussion amongst their close (or wide) circle of friends:
Particularly interesting is that the Quorus solution is universally deployable to all shopping sites and the focus is clearly on the personal communication level – in contrast to SixGroups and other “instant community” initiatives which tend to try to build a community around a specific website.
This is exactly what Quorus is not trying to do. Here every user should first tap into their personal network – either very simple over email, but also over Facebook, Twitter, IM, etc:
If your friends aren't available at that particular moment, they can also express their opinions later. The discussion moves around the particular product site and can from there very easily incorporate further product recommendations, alternative suggestions, etc.
In this way, the shopping site grows a sort of social layer: “Check it out! Whaddaya think of this? How does this look on me?” The best way to experience it is to simply try it out. Brooks Running is also using Quorus (“Discuss with a friend”).
Thanks to the Quorus team for the forward information. Some background info on 1000Markets to be found on the Techflash blog.
Related posts:
- From Social Shopping to Personal Shopping Network
- Etsy 2010: How Social Can Commerce Get?
- Magento Matters: Social Shopping with Facebook and Magento
Originally posted in German by Jochen Krisch, adapted for excitingcommerce.com by Jason Soo.
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