AS THE SOCIALLY NETWORKED KNOW BY NOW, Facebook made some changes in late April that enabled sharing of some of the already-public data on members’ profile pages with outside Web sites — and stirred protests from some of the 400 million users who were automatically opted in.
Consumer kerfuffle aside, online merchants and publishers say they see real potential in the ability to integrate Facebook more organically into their sites. One of the first merchants to make use of the new Facebook capabilities, the Levis.com Web site has built a special “Friends Store” shopping area to put the plug-ins into action.
Visitors can use the Facebook Like button on Levis.com without logging into their accounts. But those who visit the Friends Store while connected to Facebook will see which Levi’s products their buddies have already Liked, along with public information such as upcoming birthdays. Users can also filter their friends’ Likes on the basis of most recent or most popular.
Social shopping
The feature adds a social dimension to shopping, says Levi’s digital and social marketing director Megan O’Connor. “We think it will make shopping for jeans more fun,” she says. “In the real world, people shop together and value their friends’ opinions.” Research finds consumers may be as much as 50% more likely to buy when they’re engaged through social sites.
Early results suggest that users are responding, at least to the Like button: The site now has more than 20,000 Like votes. And Liked products quickly go viral. “Our top-10 Likes are completely different from when we launched a month ago,” O’Connor says.
Could the Facebook privacy fight make integrated tactics like the Friends Store unviable? O’Connor doesn’t think so. “Right now people are participating,” she says. “But we will be tracking to make sure that remains the best consumer experience for our users.”
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