A lot to Like: Retailers ring up $2.7 billion in social commerce sales

CHICAGO, Jan. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Whether they boosted their ad spend on social networks by 150% like Office Depot or grew their direct social commerce sales 226% like W.W. Grainger Inc., social media marketing played a bigger part in the business of many retailers in 2013. And they found that many consumers clicking from social networks to retail sites were ready to buy. Those shoppers purchased $2.7 billion worth of goods in 2013 from the retailers in Internet Retailer's new 2014 Social Media 500, a 62.5% increase from the social commerce sales of those 500 online retailers a year earlier.

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Adding 200 retailers to the rankings of the inaugural 2013 Social Media 300 guide, the 2014 Social Media 500 ranks the leaders in social commerce by the percentage of web site traffic they receive directly from social networks. The research guide analyzes their social footprints in never-before-revealed detail, including year-over-year comparisons in the following: growth of Likes (Facebook), followers (Twitter and Pinterest) and subscribers (YouTube), monthly unique visitors from social networks, percent of site traffic from social networks, social conversion rate, social average ticket, social ad spend, as well as key vendors used and dozens of other metrics—in all up to 48 data elements for each business.

The data show that small- and mid-sized, web-only e-retailers dominate the social media rankings. Web merchants like Bucketfeet (No.1 in the Social Media 500), Ranger Up (No. 2) and Rivet & Sway (No. 5)—companies relatively new to e-commerce—have seized upon social media marketing as a cost-effective way to attract online shoppers, helping them to level the playing field with the leaders in e-retailing.

"They don't have the brand recognition or search marketing budgets of the top retail chains and e-retailers, but they do know how to use social media to engage their customers—a lesson many of the largest e-retailers need to learn, particularly as social networks increasingly become mainstream marketing vehicles," observes Internet Retailer publisher and chairman, Jack Love.

The Internet Retailer 2014 Mobile 500 guide is available in a 314-page digital version. The guide's data can also be accessed through an online database subscription to Top500Guide.com.

For media inquiries, contact Chaz McCrobie-Quinn, Internet Retailer, at 312.362.0107.

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Vertical Web Media is a privately held, Chicago-based publisher that focuses on providing business intelligence for the e-commerce industry. Founded and led by journalists, the company aims to be the largest and most credible provider of objective business information on the market trends, technology, competitive practices and people shaping online retailing. Starting with Internet Retailer magazine, launched in 1999, Vertical Web Media has since introduced more than a dozen competitive data products and is now the largest publisher in e-commerce. Through its Internet Retailer® brand, the company operates a monthly magazine, two web sites, a daily e-mail newsletter, and 12 research guides—strategic content designed to equip e-commerce executives with the competitive data they need to help grow their online businesses.

SOURCE Vertical Web Media