1-800flowers.com Facebook Retail Store, The Future of Online Retail?
Yesterday, 1-800flowers.com became the first retail store on Facebook. There have been countless articles that talk about Facebook retail, and the possibility for retailers to integrate themselves into the social graph.
While the 1-800flowers.com store is exciting there are some issues. Firstly, let’s say you want to join the 1-800flowers.com group. So, you go into your Facebook search box and look for 1-800flowers.com. What comes up first? A group called, 1-800 flowers sucks. Don’t believe me? Look for yourself:
Ah, the beauty of social media. Sometimes it is easier to find negative groups about your brand than anything else.
Now groups like this may scare brands away from creating an ecommerce platform on Facebook or any other social site. What they need to remember is influence. 82 people in the group “1-800 flowers sucks” has minimal influence compared to the 2,000 fans of the service. Now, if those numbers were flipped, 1800-flowers.com would have something to worry about.
When social media first emerged, users were inspired by the ability of the platform to encourage outspoken consumer advocacy. However, many consumer advocates became selfish whiners, calling out brands not on behalf of consumers, but leveraging their influence for personal gain. As we move into an age where social media is no longer new, those users who maliciously attacked brands for personal gain are not going to be viewed as innovators, but as obnoxious muckrakers who are selfish and tiresome.
Many brands are scared to use social media because of the possibility of uncontrollable negative PR. What they have to realize is that, unless your brand has a negative image already, the pros of using social media outweigh the cons. Think about all the new customers and free press 1800-flowers.com has gotten based off their facebook integration. That could be your brand, just be prepared to ignore the small groups of people who think your brand “sucks”.
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