Retailers such as these that are using Amazon Webstore can now merchandise and sell their products on social media sites in posts that mimic an ecommerce storefront. Users can see products from different angles, view pertinent product information and make a purchase by connecting directly to a branded checkout process.

“Based on the increased activity we are seeing from our merchant base on Shopify and BigCommerce, and the early adopter interest from the Amazon Webstore merchants, we can definitely tell that merchants are focusing heavily on converting fans and followers into shoppers and optimizing for better conversion off of social platforms, more this season than ever before,” said James Lively, president and chief operating officer at Zantler.

“People have been spending a lot of money to engage customers on social sites, but in holiday seasons past, they have not been able to easily see the ROI,” he said.

“Because Shoppost solves this problem for retailers by directly connecting their social campaigns and the interactions they have with their customers on a social site with their ecommerce checkout process, we anticipate demand to be very high this holiday season.”

Zantier provides the Shoppost platform, which was launched this summer and is being used by Shopify and Bigcommerce in addition to Amazon Webstore.

Interactive offers
After Spiegel, Fair Indigo, Harley Davidson Military Sales or another Amazon Webstore merchant has posted a product to a social platform such as Facebook, users will see an interactive product offer presented within their social news feed.  The post contains product information such as sizes and colors, as well as current price and inventory availability.

Users also see a gallery of images and videos with descriptive information.

Shoppers can explore the product similar to how they would on the merchant’s site, select the item they wish to purchase and begin the branded checkout process on the merchant’s site by clicking on the “BUY” button within the post.

After purchasing, shoppers can choose to share the post with friends on other social networks or embed the post within their own blog.  All product data and media move with the post as it gets shared.

Branded checkout
In addition to providing social commerce capabilities, Shoppost also provides analytics, including about data about customers’ engagement and which products convert best on which sites.

“Brands tell us that they can best serve the relationships they have with their customers when they own the check out process,” Mr. Lively said. “Their customers can trust that purchase data will be managed by the retailer they know, not an unexpected third party handling the transaction with a new set of terms of service.

“If there is a problem with a purchase from a social media platform, the consumer knows whom to contact, and the retailer’s customer service policies prevail,” he said.

Final Take
Chantal Tode is senior editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York