Social shopping attitudes in the UK and France

More French consumers have bought from a brand’s social-network page than their UK counterparts. A study by user experience surveys provider Yuseo uncovered that a mere 3 percent of UK respondents have bought a product from a brand’s social network page compared to 6 percent in France.

What’s more, 47 percent of Brits consider the use of social networks and online shopping separate acts. In comparison, just 36 percent of French consumers use social media separately to their online purchases.

What this shows, says Yuseo, which surveyed 13,000 British and 12,000 French online shoppers, is that although the figures are small, they provide “perspective for the social channel’s direct-selling potential”, on both sides of the English Channel.

To make the most of social media as a purchasing channel, Yuseo recommends that social pages “should not be a miniature replica” of a brand’s ecommerce website, “instead the pages should remain an appropriate forum for exchanging information, expression and creating a viral buzz, to bring the brand to life.”