Web Development / Internet Marketing Blog

There’s no denying that mobile devices and internet connections have improved ten-fold over the past few years. There’s also no doubt that the future of IT is swiftly going mobile, along with everything connected to it, such as e-commerce

Welcome back! In part 1 of our blog post on Embracing Social Commerce we looked at: • What social commerce actually is • What consumers are saying and doing about it • What some of the benefits of social commerce are and • How it works Following on from that, we’re going to delve a little deeper into Social Commerce and look at a couple more aspects of what is set to be online marketing’s next big thing.

Firstly, what is it? “Social Commerce” stems from the integration of e-commerce and social media in the form of: forums, social shopping tools and apps, and online ratings and product reviews written by and for one’s peers. Essentially, consumers have shifted the interaction of the in-store shopping experience to that of the online experience.

While the scope of South Africa’s general internet access and online activity admittedly isn’t quite comparable to that of the US, Europe or Asia, one would be hard pressed to deny that our e-commerce industry is growing in leaps and bounds. With stringent privacy policies and internet security systems settling into place, people are vastly more receptive to the idea of online shopping, and if latest stats and figures are anything to go by, we’re making up for lost time.

Lima Bean’s new blog site has just been launched, so keep your eyes peeled for regular posts focusing on the latest trends within the web development, CMS, e-commerce and e-marketing world. Our aim is to keep abreast and keep you informed about these developments while laying it out in a way that everyone can understand and appreciate.