At Home, In My Room, Alone.. Chilling With All My Mates

On the back of this video Ive been spending a lot of time monitoring technology and trend blogs trying to identify the where we are heading. In doing this one of the things that has really rubbed my nips is the rise in Social Commerce. Websites like this and this, and this, are really starting to gain traction and are generating healthy user-bases. Groupon, a website that slid straight out the tubes of social commerce was offered a staggering $6 billion dollars from Google just 2 years after inception. And they turned it down. There is BIG money getting thrown around in this area already, and its poised to get bigger.

Its not hard to see why either. A big portion of Gen Y spend almost all of their time behind a screen. The rise in cloud computing software has meant they are online while they work . The growth of smartphones and the steady decline of mobile data rates means they are online when theyre waiting at the super market. When they get home after a long arduous day at work.. They jump straight back on the internet and meticulously check Facebook until their heads hit the pillow.

They do this because thats where their friends are.

Their whole network of friends is sitting behind a screen talking about their day. About what the drunken chick on Jersey Shore said on TV. About what they are going to do on the weekend.

As they do this, lurking deep within their timelines are the Brands and Products that they like. Each one pushing out new deals, links or questions that spark conversations with their fans and followers.

As a marketer this is golden.

Companies pay massive money for market research. They pay companies to hold focus groups, to conduct A/B website tests, to survey their customer bases and to determine what is currently resonating with their target markets.

For the companies this is essential information when they're working out how to position products and build campaigns. Only now, its not necessary to spend the bucks.

All you have to do now is kick back and absorb Facebook and Twitter, get amongst some blogs, dabble in some popular YouTube clips. You can literally sit behind a computer screen and find out exactly what you target market is talking about, what they are interested in and what products they like.

Social Commerce is about to get massive because that is where the market is beginning to live. Theyve gotten sick of flicking through shopping racks at malls and sales. They cant be arsed driving from one shop to the next looking for a top that like totally makes their eyes pop. They want to sit in front of the TV chatting to their mates, and flicking through products that their peers have recommended.