While the jury is out whether social shopping will eventually become a popular form of ecommerce, that isn't stopping major retail brands for experimenting with the platform. According to a recent report from the E-Tailing Group, approximately half of retailers (51 percent) allow shoppers to browse goods from their Facebook pages.

Moreover, 16 percent give their Facebook fans the ability to make purchases straight from their company pages. The rest link back to a traditional ecommerce website instead. However, the return on investment is not clear with these social shopping initiatives – many aren't seeing a strong payback on the money spent to develop these platforms.

The key will lie in whether brands can convince shoppers to buy via their Facebook pages.

"Retailers will follow the money and should results be forthcoming, you can certainly expect to find their participation to grow," E-Tailing Group's president Lauren Freedman told Internet Retailer.

Facebook has upward of 850 million users. Whether retailers leverage the site for customer service or ecommerce, it can have a big impact on store operations when used correctly.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Wednesday, March 14th, 2012 at 8:40 am .