Ecommerce by the Numbers: Social Creates Traffic, but Lags in Sales

By Karla Robinson
August 16, 2012

While social networks create traffic for ecommerce sites, they aren’t as successful in driving actual sales and revenue as traditional search and email, according to a report from online marketing provider Montate.
“Email was the leader in conversions to sales in the second quarter of this year, with 4.25 percent, ahead of search at 2.49 percent and social at 0.59 percent. When you look at average order value, search comes out on top with $90.40, followed by email $82.72 with social trailing with $64.19,” reports GigaOM per Monetate’s findings.
Facebook, Twitter and other networks are useful for building customer relationships and promoting conversations around products. However, because most people aren’t necessarily looking to shop while they use social media, they won’t follow through with a purchase.
Around 73 percent of Facebook users will view one product detail page, but 45 percent will leave after one page. For those coming from Google searches, just 56 percent will view a detail page, but 26 percent leave after the first page.
“It doesn’t mean investing in social media isn’t worth it,” notes GigaOM. “Social can still drive a lot of new commerce that might not have come through other channels. And for some retailers who integrate social well, there’s still a lot of upside… But retailers should be aware of the current limitations of social in driving revenue.”

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