Social media is not just a place to network with others.  Millions of businesses, small or large, are using Social media for their business.

A study has found that if you have an e-commerce website,  including social sharing plugins on your website can result in increase in your sales. Here is what the recent studies have found:

1) Use of Social Logins Reduces Shopping Cart Abandonment

Not all shopping cart purchases are completed by users. The abandonment rate of shopping cart varies from site to site. According to various research reports, abandonment rates can be as high as 67% (source: esurveyspro.com).

A recent study by Philadelphia-based marketing company Monetate found that 75 percent of online transactions that are launched but not completed fail because users abandon their online shopping carts. In a separate study by Global Millennia Marketing, 23% of respondents indicated that “site requires registration” and a further 44% that “Checkout process is too long” are some important factors that contribute to abandonment of the shopping cart before completing the purchase.

The Monetate study further added that 40 percent of consumers prefer social logins over creating new guest accounts, with Facebook serving as the social network of choice.  Thus by allowing customers the option to login with their social profile such as Facebook, you can reduce the cart abandonment rate on your website and increase your sales.

2) Social Sharing Can Make Your Products More Relevant

An average user spends nearly 5.5 hours of their time every month on social networks such as Facebook.  This is more the time they will spend on your website. Plus, as the  above figure suggests,  majority of the buyers research social media to read product reviews before making a purchase.

Thus by making your products more visible on social media via sharing and facilitating posting of reviews by customers directly from your site, you can become more relevant on social media and improve your revenue potential.

3) Social Sharing Increases Time Spent on Site

Social login and social sharing can have a significant impact on the total time customers spend on your website. The more time they spend the more are the opportunities for you to deliver your message or acquire a lead.

Here are the results of the study that supports this observation:

4) Selling on Facebook can increase Your Sales by 15%

In many countries total visits to Facebook has surpassed even Google.  It thus makes sense to sell where your customers are. Many businesses small or large have alreadt started selling on their Facebook page.

A recent study by Econsultancy that analysed 2000 vendors using the popular e-commerce app Ecwid on Facebook, has found that adding an e-commerce app to your Facebook page can boost sales by 15%.

Businesses are now able to add online shopping easily to their Facebook pages with the help of apps and plugins. 1-800-Flowers from US have been able to increase their sales by doing just this.  Its customers find it very useful as the moment they realise one their friend’s birthday is approaching; they can easily switch to 1-800-Flowers’ Facebook page and buy them flowers without having to leave Facebook.

Conclusion:

Here are some basic tips to start using social media for your business. It will take some time to build your brand presence on social media however with time, social Media can become a very valuable asset for your business. If your business is already on social media, here are 60 Free Social Media Marketing Tips t0  help improve your performance.