Mobile vs. Social

While mobile commerce remains an emerging channel for product recommendations and sales, retailers need to tread cautiously when it comes to pushing product recommendations via Facebook and LinkedIn, or trying to sell products via social networking sites.

A Personalization Survey from recommendation services provider ChoiceStream found that 65 percent of consumers would be more likely to buy if it were easier to find products on their mobile phones, but are not as interested in shopping when engaged with social networks. Only a small number (8.5 percent) have ever made a purchase while on a social networking site.

“If 2009 taught us anything, it’s that smart phones are here to stay and that consumers are starting to see them as a legitimate shopping channel,” says ChoiceStream vice president of marketing Lori Trahan, adding that 37 percent of smart phone owners used their devices to buy merchandise in 2009. “As smart phones become more pervasive, it’s critical that retailers optimize ads and applications for those devices to overcome the challenges posed by small screens.”

ChoiceStream also found that levels of interest in product recommendations vary by channel and placement of recommendations within retail sites. For example, 85 percent of respondents said they would find it useful to receive recommendations on product detail, brand and category pages, but less than half are interested in receiving product recommendations on an order confirmation page.

The placement of recommendations also has a significant impact on sales. The majority of purchases tied to recommendations were based on placements on product detail pages (58 percent) or category/brand pages (40 percent).