‘Social shoppers’ increasingly seek rewards for interaction

Social media agency immediate future recently surveyed 2,000 UK internet users to understand the impact of social media on their online shopping habits.

And the results revealed that 60% of UK online shoppers would be more likely to shop at a site that rewarded them for interactions such as reviews or recommendations.

Of these, only 11% want transactional rewards such as discounts, with the vast majority (82%) wanting both transactional and experiential rewards, such as private shopping days and product testing.

Furthermore, incentives by retailers do not appear to affect the credibility of customer reviews - 32% think better of a brand that has being recommended, and even if the recommendation has been rewarded 30% will still think better of the business.

And with 53% reviewing a product or service online in the last month, it is clear that online influencers and the sharing of consumer opinion is becoming part of a new route to purchase; we’re now experiencing the rise of the ‘social shopper’.

Adam Lewis, director at immediate future, says: "The social shopper is not just a buyer: they are also an expert, critique, influencer and potential advocate.  There is an untapped consumer appetite to be advocates for a product or service - rewarding them for the time and effort in doing so is not seen as a negative. Rewards are not just about money. Retailers need to be looking at other ways to build relationships and make their social shoppers feel special.

"The social shopper is sharing their experiences with their network online as much as they are offline network. This reinforces the need for retailers to be involved in the conversation."