Social media use among retailers—especially luxury retailers—is exploding, particularly as a way to determine customer needs and preferences. For insight on how brick and mortar merchants are leveraging social channels,Chief Marketer talked withBernie Brennan, a retail marketing consultant and investor, and author of "Branded: How Retailers Engage Consumers With Social Media and Mobility."
CM: How important has social media become to retailers?
Brennan:Instead of just marketing to them, social has enabled retailers to engage with consumers through two-way communication. In the past, all marketing was fundamentally from the retailer to the consumer. Now, through social media, retailers are inviting consumers to give their opinions and points of view. Retailers will say they’ve always done that but it’s never existed to the degree it’s done now. And it’s enabled retailers to make decisions based on feedback from their customers.
CM: How long have retailers been leveraging social channels, and who were the pioneers?
Brennan:The first time social media was used to any extent was during the holiday season of 2010. One that has really done a good job is Best Buy. In the Blue Shirt Nation program, the sales associates started using Twitter to ask each other questions in different stores. If a customer came into one store and the associate couldn’t answer a question, they used Twitter to go to another associate in another store and see if he or she could help.
Another good example is Zappos, which used Twitter as a constant way to keep in front of their customers. They had about one third of their associates on Twitter every day.
CM:How are retailers using the customer information they get from social media?
Brennan: Many of the fashion retailers are using it to ask for customer comments on products or promotions even before an item goes on sale.
The luxury retailers have done a great job getting customer input. An item that was advertised in a fashion magazine can be put on an iPad and shown to customers in the store, to get their comments. That information will go back to the retailer's product buyers, who can use it to adjust their orders before they’ve made a full commitment to buy [from their suppliers].
CM:What hurdles do retailers face when adopting social media?
Brennan: One of the biggest hurdles is [understanding] that social media is more than just having a Facebook page or being on Twitter. It really has to be a program that’s worked closely. I’ve been a believer for a long time that retailers need to have somebody managing social media for the company.
CM:How are retailers gauging their social media ROI?
Brennan: It’s hard to say but one thing is sure that it’s bringing more people into stores. And they’re hearing from more people and their advertising budgets are shifting from print to digital and video and social media.
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