Most eCommerce merchants have a social media presence these days, but not all are using it to their full potential. The Fraud Practice explores metrics around the use of Facebook and Pinterest to drive more sales along with a case study of a retailer increasing sales and revenue via Instagram.
Social media helps businesses grow their brand and presence in the marketplace, but measuring direct impact on sales can be more difficult. Recent Black Friday analytics from IBM provided some insight. According to IBM, sales brought in from Facebook had an average order value of $123.44 while Pinterest brought in sales with an average order value of $97.78. This is compared to 2013 average order amounts of $97.81 and $92.40 for Facebook and Pinterest, respectively. In addition to higher average order values Facebook exceed Pinterest in terms of conversion rates at 2.3 percent versus 1.6 percent.
Facebook owned mobile app Instagram can also be leveraged as a new avenue for bringing in more sales. The photo sharing app enables merchants to share pictures of their latest products, or even customers wearing or using the products they sell. Apparel retailer Charlotte Russe implemented a service leveraging their Instragram account and nearly 500,000 followers. Their profile page links to a gallery of Instagram photos that link to the product page for buying that item.
According to the retailers social media and PR manager, consumers who came to their site through this channel spent nearly a third more time on their site while the conversion rate for these consumers exceeded the retailer’s average conversion rate. Measuring responses to different types and the number of images posted the company was also able to better cater their Instragram posts to drive more clicks and buys.
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