2011 'the year of social networking commerce'

Social networking commerce is set to “come of age in 2011″, according to one expert.

The course of this year could see users begin to regularly carry out transactions using social networks, which may mean such platforms become even more important to businesses.

This is according to Justin Cooke, chair of the British Interactive Media Association (BIMA), who notes that in 2010 social media as a whole grew more than any other mobile activity.

Attributing this change in part to the rise in the number of consumers with smartphones, Mr Cooke suggests that such devices will in turn help to introduce social media commerce.

“Major brands will create social transactional applications and it will become commonplace for users to be able to make transactions on social media platforms,” he states.

A combination of such platforms and geo-targeting could mean businesses will have the opportunity to target potential customers based on both their profiles and location, Mr Cooke adds.

Recent research by Foresee Results shows that mobiles are being used for shopping purposes more than ever before.

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source : www.directnews.co.uk