The third trend is social commerce, which comes in two flavors: content-driven and interaction-driven, or passive vs. active. Examples of content-driven social commerce are already present, albeit not automated. Our purchase choices are influenced by those in our social networks. Brands know that. That’s why promotion on MySpace is the cool new thing. What about being able to see what products your friends have viewed or purchased? It’s coming to an e-commerce site near you. Interaction-driven social commerce is different yet, again, a new spin on an offline idea—multi-level marketing. Remember Tupperware house parties? Well, the company has started hosting these online. Why can’t iTunes start offering incentives to people who recommend songs to others? And, since any individual can become an Amazon affiliate, anyone can have product links in their social network profiles that reward them for sending interested buyers to Amazon. With e-commerce 2.0 these types of social interactions will infiltrate the shopping experience. Combined with disaggregation, it means that social commerce will happen everywhere, not just on the e-commerce sites.
