Study: For retailers, email and paid search more effective than Facebook

The ‘best is of Facebook is already here,’ says the author of the Forrester study.

Will Facebook Ever Drive eCommerce,” from Forrester’s Sucharita Mulpuru, found that the social network is less effective at customer acquisition and retention for retailers than some might think.

“For some companies and brands, Facebook promises to support branding and awareness efforts,” Mulpuru writes. “But for most eBusiness companies in retail, Facebook is unlikely to correlate directly to near-term sales.”

Forrester interviewed dozens of retailers, large and small, about their use of Facebook as a retail sales channel.

Mulpuru writes:

“In spite of the fact that hundreds of millions of people around the world have Facebook accounts, the ability of the social network to drive revenue for eCommerce businesses continues to remain elusive. eBusiness professionals in retail collectively report little direct or indirect benefit from Facebook, and social networks overall trail far behind other customer acquisition and retention tactics like paid search and email in generating a return on investment.”

To read the full story, log in.
Become a Ragan Insider member to read this article and all other archived content.
Sign up today

Already a member? Log in here.
Learn more about Ragan Insider.