Social Media & Mobile Marketing Among Dropshippers Rockets by Over 70% in 2011

May 14, 2011 - PRLog -- Smart phones, tablets and social networking are fast becoming the most essential tools for dropshipping businesses in 2011. Like the e-commerce retailers of recent years, they are slowly embracing the capabilities of Web 2.0 technologies such as social media to manage order processing, fulfilment and more importantly, to keep pace with the demands of the ever-changing business environment. Dropshipping companies are utilising the following online trends to set themselves apart from their competitors and to create a leading advantage:

Social Media

Dropshippers are tapping into social media to connect and be more personable with their customers. Having a social network identity is a popular way for monitoring orders directly from suppliers, enabling dropshippers to take immediate action and provide better customer service. Facebook is the preferred choice for social media participation among dropshippers, followed swiftly by Twitter where real-time customer engagement and industry trend tapping is possible. A recent survey conducted by the Dropship Forum: http://www.thewholesaleforums.co.uk/forum/dropshipping , a leading community serving dropshippers across the globe, found that usage of social media as a sales & marketing tool by dropshippers had increased by over 70% between April 2010 and April 2011. The survey went on to reveal that among those dropshippers who participated over 85% indicated that they would be increasing their social media budgets for the remainder of 2011.

Mobile Computing

The growing popularity of tablet technologies and smartphones are providing customers, retailers and dropshippers with the capability of running their businesses ‘on the go’. Customers these days no longer spend hours sitting at their desktops but are instead using much smaller devices to work and shop from. A recent survey conducted by Vision Critical in November 2010 revealed that “64% of U.S. adults now use tablets for web browsing and 40% for shopping”. Due to the tablet’s portability, friendly interface and clear graphics, these devices allow customers to shop without connectivity barriers or conventional impracticalities. Cross-browsing compatibilities, especially across mobile devices, is still somewhat disjointed but will soon be improved so as to attract a bigger portion of the mobile market where usage numbers are growing at great pace.

Web Analytics

Reports such as these: http://www.thewholesaleforums.co.uk/forum/dropshipping/10... from industry analysts and communities serving dropshipping businesses reveal that less than 30% of dropshippers are using web analytics to track their business performance on the web. Surely however this will likely change as more and more organisations are realising the importance of tracking and analysing data-points in real-time.

Web 2.0 technologies are gaining wide acceptance in the dropshipping industry and are becoming a force to be reckoned with. Customer engagement via social media is obviously turning into a critical metric, with goals more likely to be achieved because progress is measured easily than ever before.

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The Wholesale Forums is the UK's leading networking and advice forum FREE for wholesalers, distributors, dropshippers, resellers and retailers. Joining the community is completely free: http://www.thewholesaleforums.co.uk/