How to tap social shopping which is on the rise?

Though I agree with Sasi and Ajit to some extent, but would like to add that the customers still are far from showing trust in the platform. Building trust should be a major part of building relationship as customers are still reluctant to accept e-commerce as an alternate mode of shopping - offers or not. Touch, see and feel are three important factors for any sale and thru social shopping platform, one gets to just see an image, visualise and accept a product - THUS THE NEED FOR BUILDING TRUST, NOT ONLY FOR THE PRODUCT BUT FOR EVERYTHING THE PLATFORM HAS TO OFFER.

I would say both will create space of their own with a balance. It is difficult to tap social shoping but equally difficult to replace human aspect involve which human can only understand at live.

Have we officially entered the era of social shopping? Several recent developments point to "Yes." The techno-trend seems to be gaining momentum as more and more retailers launch applications and sites incorporating social shopping technologies. 

Social shopping is a fusion of social media technologies and e-commerce. It allows users to tap their friends and online communities to share and enhance their shopping experiences.

So how can you prepare for this impending wave of innovation?

1. Identify the social networks and social habits of your target segments.

2. Identify those places where your brand, your products and your competitors are being discussed.
3. Consider the emerging social shopping models—social network applications, third-party sites and brand site integration—and determine a best fit for your brand.
4. Conduct a website analysis to determine which social shopping technologies may make sense and how to best integrate them.

Build relationships with prospects and customers. Enable consumers to reconnect with you later in the purchase process by providing a variety of options including Facebook, Twitter, RSS feeds, social bookmarking, e-mail, and chat. Thus, this will help in tapping more online  customers.

Make attractive offers to social shoppers. Since social shopping often translates to efficient transmission of buying information for customers, offer these prospects attractive promotions where you can leverage the strength of your customers' networks to cost-efficiently distribute them.

Thus this will give one the competitive advantage & help in retaining customers.

am totally surprised on more no of apprehension  about the social networking. No doubt differnet people will  have different ideas. But the present scenario will welcome this may b not today but certainly it will b the dominating factor in the years to come. in the present scenario customers / mnfs are more concerned about value / action / time. THE VAT CONCEPT (VALUE ACTION TIME) CANNOT B TAKEN LIGHTLY.

Social Shopping is indeed a social activity both on and offline and it can be one of the most powerful word of mouth marketing activity due to the Trust Factor.This is because we want customers to build up unique reputation on the network so people know who they are, why they should trust them and let them earn respect and trust. Without this their contributions will hardly impact on the products at all.

Despite a decade of refinement in e-commerce technology, making a purchase on the web is an act done primarily in solitude rather than in the presence of others. The dimensions of social shopping has yet to be fully exploited and offers great potential for growth and disruptive change.

Social shopping brings the power of emotions to online stores.The basis of social shopping is not just that you see but that you see what your friend recommended, reviewed, or bought. You pay more more attention to your friends than people you don't know.

It is often said that an Indian won't even spend a single penny if he doesn't get to see the worth of it. It is true , this psychology prevails largely in our society. This is a trust factor what matters here. People here have been used to the touch & feel mode of shopping over generations. We never like to leap to decisions and this is what missing in the portals.