IRCE 2008 Session Descriptions

Among the hottest sites on the web are social networking sites. Millions of online consumers participate in some kind of social site and a large portion engage monthly in such activity. In addition, 12% of social site users said in a survey by JupiterResearch that visiting a social site caused them to spend more than they had planned and 29% said they made better decisions as a result of the visit. With consumers reporting those kinds of experiences, retailers and marketers have long suspected social networking sites are fertile ground for finding more customers and selling more product. The challenge has been how to tap into the market. This session will feature the director of global online sales at Dell Inc. who will talk about integrating product content into social sites and what benefits the company has derived as a result. He will be joined by a leading retail analyst who will discuss how retailers should view social sites and what they can get out of participating in them. Our speakers will help online retailers understand the different social sites and the distinct audiences they attract, what some of the sites have done to make e-commerce possible and how to use social sites for marketing without alienating the users.