8thBridge IDs retailers working the social space

"In line with the expanding role of social commerce and the new skill sets required by companies to fully monetize its benefits, this year's SCIQ Top 25 reflect both traditional and non-traditional companies," said Wade Gerten, CEO, 8thBridge.

The top retailers in the social space, according to the report, include Fab.com, DebShops.com and Coastal.com.

"Three types of companies have emerged as leaders in this year's report - the first is ecommerce companies that have deeply integrated social functionality into their sites, the second is 'in-transition' companies that do well in all social commerce areas, and the third is strong viral companies that score exceptionally well in social network branding and referral traffic," said Gerten.

Those performing highest increased their brand-to-fan sharing through Facebook pages and also increased friend-to-friend sharing; they also increased total upstream social traffic. Perhaps of most interest will be a survey of US social networks which found that most (70%) preferred hearing about new products from social network friends than from brands they've 'liked' on social networks.

Other interesting findings include:

• 57% have asked for advice through socnets prior to purchasing
• 31% say they don't share products on socnets
• 64% say more product 'likes' doesn't increase their likelihood to buy the product

Tags: 8thBridge, social marketing, social networks, social targeting