Traditional techniques like promotional emails, search engine results, and even advertising influence far more visits to retail websites in the US compared to social media interactions, according to a report by ForeSee Results.
The report on the state of social media effectiveness for retailers in the US shows that social media interactions are a primary influence for only about 5% of visitors to retail websites.
The report highlighted that some of the most satisfied site visitors arrived at the site because of previous familiarity with a brand, promotional emails, word-of-mouth and product review websites.
It also showed that most customers are eager to engage with retailers, but prefer to do so via email or on retail websites, rather than on social sites.
As the statistics reveal, only 8% of online shoppers said that social media was their preferred way to interact with a retailer.
People are more satisfied with retailers’ presence on Facebook than they are with Facebook itself, the report said.
ForeSee Results president and CEO Larry Freed said every retailer should know how many customers are influenced by promotional emails, advertising on Facebook or word-of-mouth recommendations, and furthermore, they should know which group is most likely to buy.
"They should also know how people want to hear from them and how well they’re doing when it comes to communicating through those channels," Freed added.
"Serious thought needs to be given to finding out whether social media is worth the investment for their business, and then if the answer is yes, they need to make the most of it by making sure that interactions on social media meet the needs and expectations of customers."
