According to a study by KPMG Social Media is most important to big retailers in the US, indeed as important as online shopping itself.

These sentences need to be read two times to be understood and additionally it needs some background knowledge. At first this finding is astonishing, but despite of the boom of online shopping the biggest part of the retail business still happens offline. This is opposed to the structure of the online business, where online only businesses like Amazon or eBay are the most popular online shopping destinations. Already contrary are coupon services and local social media services both referring to offline business and offers. By these contemplations the preferences of the big retailers become clear. Small business by the way are most active in the social media sphere as well.

The results of the study questioning the most important online channels are a preference of online shopping mentioned by 59 % of respondents followed by social media with 58 % and only one point less. Below you find an overview of the results and a link to download the whole study.

Large Retailers Say Social’s Biz Impact On Par With E-Commerce

Retail Industry Outlook Survey

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