Infographic – The Social Commerce Timeline

Written by Chi Chung Man on November 23rd, 2011 | 9 comments

Providing a social shopping experience for consumers through social networks seems like a no-brainer, especially with only one king to rule them all: Facebook. Social Commerce is one of the big trends at the moment, like social media it is here to stay.

The friendly people at Useful Social Media visualized and shared the social commerce timeline. It started back in 2007 as virtual gifts were sold on Facebook. Brands and businesses  are riding the wave of social commerce and are trying to eat a piece of the pie.

Top brands like Coca-Cola, Walt Disney and Starbucks jumped on the social commerce boat already. We’re curious, is your brand or business active in social commerce yet?

Source: usefulsocialmedia.com

Follow us on Twitter, sign up for our weekly e-mail or watch the ViralTracker social video metrics demo.

9 Comments

• Neil Draper says:

  November 23, 2011 at 10:55

  Thanks for the inforgraphic.

  If you see that timeline; where do you think the market will evolve to next?

  Reply
  • Chi Chung Man says:

    November 23, 2011 at 11:21

    With more and more companies entering the social landscape it’s only a matter of time social commerce will be part of their strategy. Google is pushing this forward by adding +1 buttons in the organic search results. Facebook is throwing ads at us with likes from within our own peer groups. Having those Likes and +1 buttons will help retail businesses make online shopping a social experience. I’m eager to see who is going to step up and claim they’ve got the best social shopping platform. Or have it integrated in their current website, sites like Amazon could definitely make good use of this.

    Reply
• Neil Draper says:

  November 23, 2011 at 13:54

  Thanks for the feedback. I too see a strong integration through the usage of open graph.

  However, I do not see social commerce as a complete new strategy, but rather an improvement of current e-commerce and a stimulus to mobile. Wouldn’t you think?

  Reply
• Chi Chung Man says:

  November 23, 2011 at 14:25

  Agree with you there. I don’t see social commerce as a whole new strategy by itself. I do believe it should be integrated within current online and social strategies. This should provide consumers a better shopping experience.

  Reply
• Igor Beuker says:

  November 23, 2011 at 17:23

  Interesting thoughts!

  Asked a similar question to your blogger Daan yesterday here..

  And question to ie Forrester or eMarketer. They did not reply yet..

  Check question here:
  http://www.viralblog.com/social-commerce-2/social-commerce-is-it-the-future/

  Cheers

  Reply
• It’s the Most Wondeful Dime of the Year « The Digital Media Runway says:

  November 27, 2011 at 23:24

  [...] Here is another inforgraphic of the social commerce timeline and article that goes into the major shift in online shopping and the influence social media has on it and what companies can flourish in it. Read More. [...]

  Reply
• Like My Stuff: How To Monetize Your Facebook Fans By Dr. Natalie Petouhoff says:

  December 7, 2011 at 03:47

  [...] Infographic – The Social Commerce Timeline (viralblog.com) [...]

  Reply
• A History of ecommerce and fcommerce - Where we've been and where social customer commerce is going... says:

  December 26, 2011 at 21:31

  [...] Infographic – The Social Commerce Timeline (viralblog.com) [...]

  Reply
• SK says:

  January 25, 2012 at 00:53

  This is a great infographic, thank you! We @ dimenzen are very excited to be in this space and are helping businesses leverage facebook as a commerce channel.

  Reply