Review of Social Coupon Tool

[daydreamer]

Hi Trent,

Still trying to fully understand your tool. One question:

At the checkout page, you expect the user to click SocialShout button and then log in and do other stuff?

I am more interested in them completing the sale, and don't really want them distracted at that stage.

Am I understanding correctly?

Or do they do the SocialShout thing after the sale is completed? If so, then that is cool.

[Social Shout!]

Originally Posted by OneArmedGraphics

No worries, probably a bit vague as I'm on some pain meds, heh.
Wasn't too sure where you were when seeing the Zazzle twitter buttons, if you had clicked through into Zazzle then yeah, they are there just as a default.

Sorry. Lost my connection.

Sorry to hear about the pain!

What I did was went to your site, to the Shop & when I chose a product was taken to zazzle. That's where I found the buttons. Figured it might be a default.

So, hypothetically, if you were to set up your own cart to sell products, would you include these types of buttons - nothwithstanding the fact that you wouldn't use them as a shopper?

Would also love you take, as a design guy, on the look & feel of our site.

T!

[Social Shout!]

Originally Posted by daydreamer

Hi Trent,

Still trying to fully understand your tool. One question:

At the checkout page, you expect the user to click SocialShout button and then log in and do other stuff?

I am more interested in them completing the sale, and don't really want them distracted at that stage.

Am I understanding correctly?

Or do they do the SocialShout thing after the sale is completed? If so, then that is cool.

Hi there!

Thanks for taking a look.

Yes the idea with this button would be that the user clicks, etc at the checkout phase to get their coupon. That coupon then gives them a discount.

Fully appreciate your concern about distracting them at the most critical stage. Another way to look at it is that giving the chance to get a discount coupon will actually increase the chances of them completing the sale, vs pay now & get no discount.

We are also creating some 'banner buttons' that will basically act as a normal ad but encouraging shoppers to click now and earn their coupon. Again, the thought being that this should encourage shoppers to stay on you site & buy because here they can get a discount.


Cheers!

Trent!

[daydreamer]

Thanks Trent.

We are actually looking to implement ReferralCandy which looks similar, but:

• seems easier to understand
• starts after the sale (no distractions on the checkout page)
• customers get $ rather than messing around with a points system
• rewards/discounts are paid on actual sales, not just a mention via FB/Twitter/4square (better for merchants)
• already a plugin with BigCommerce

Have you looked at this? What do you think are SocialShout's advantages v's Referral Candy, which seems to make more sense to me.

[Social Shout!]

Originally Posted by daydreamer

Thanks Trent.

We are actually looking to implement ReferralCandy which looks similar, but:

• seems easier to understand
• starts after the sale (no distractions on the checkout page)
• customers get $ rather than messing around with a points system
• rewards/discounts are paid on actual sales, not just a mention via FB/Twitter/4square (better for merchants)
• already a plugin with BigCommerce

Have you looked at this? What do you think are SocialShout's advantages v's Referral Candy, which seems to make more sense to me.

Thanks again.
I guess the big difference between us is that our Social Coupon Tool is just one part of what we're doing.

Our vision is to create a Social Commerce Marketplace. You will be able to publish your deals/offers on our site as well as yours. This gives you another distribution channel. When a user clicks on your offers/products in our store, we send them to your site so you can own the sale.

We're also creating a Leaderboard for your biz too. The idea is your customers (& others interested in what you sell) can join your leaderboard and vie for top spot, based on their SocialShout! Points. Remember, the more points, the more active & connected they are. You can even reach out to key users directly via their Private Mail Box with special offers/deals.

In short, our site will give you a 'neutral' platform to have deeper engagement with your customers and lots of potential customers. A SocialShout! user is a qualified online shopper.

I've attached a screenshot of our site (not live yet) to give you an idea...

https://koombea.basecamphq.com/proje...0SUGGESTED.jpg


To answer your specific questions...

* seems easier to understand
- I guess ours is a little more involved, but we're working hard on simplifying the explanation. We'll do a short video too which should make it a bit clearer. 'Shout & Save' is the message for shoppers. 'Word of Mouth for a discount' is the message for merchants.

* starts after the sale (no distractions on the checkout page)
- as mentioned earlier, we see that we're actually incentivising the checkout, not distracting from it

* customers get $ rather than messing around with a points system
- same with SocialShout! We issue a coupon code. You decide what the code represents - 15% disc, free shipping, Bonus loyalty points, up to you.
- the idea of giving them points based on how many Friends on Facebook, Tweets on Twitter, etc is that this number shows you how loud they can Shout! (ie: how many others will see it!)
- you can then also set different coupons depending on how many points they have. You can give a customer with 1,000 points 10% disc & one with 10,000 pts might get 10% plus free shipping. Why? Because that person's Shout! is worth more to you.
- also, the points system adds an element of gamification to it which can be quite engaging - especially once we get our site live with the Leaderboards.

* rewarded are paid on actual sales, not just a mention via FB/Twitter/4square (better for merchants)
- can't really counter this point. It's true with SocialShout! you're rewarding your customers for the word of mouth. The concept here was to try to mirror how 'real life' word of mouth works. You get a great deal at a shop or great customer service & you'll tell your friends. With the referral concept, you'll only tell someone because if they mention your name, you'll get a discount next time you guy back in. Just doesn't seem quite as sincere.
- without being cheesy, we believe that for any social network strategy to be sustainable long term, it has to be genuine & sincere - just like in real life

* already a plugin with BigCommerce
- we're building one too! We've signed the agreement already. Just working with their developers to get some answers on the API, etc. Hope to be in the app store within 1-2 months.

PS: Have you looked at Curebit? It's similar to ReferralCandy, but I think their pricing structure is a bit better for merchants. http://www.curebit.com/

Cheers!
Trent!

[MatthewKeath]

Originally Posted by Social Shout!

Someone suggested I should post there and ask for feedback on the site.

It was me, and I saw it, but then it vanished...

[Social Shout!]

Originally Posted by MatthewKeath

It was me, and I saw it, but then it vanished...

Cheers!

Thanks for saying that. I thought I was going mad. No idea where it went. Anyway..it's BACK - with an add on!?!?

T!

[daydreamer]

Thanks Trent, for your detailed answer. I think your openness is great and, when your tool is ready, I might give it a go.

[Social Shout!]

Originally Posted by daydreamer

Thanks Trent, for your detailed answer. I think your openness is great and, when your tool is ready, I might give it a go.

Thanks! Will certainly post here when we're ready to go live. Should be just another week or two for the Social Coupon Tool then another couple of weeks for the rest ofnthe site.

I would hope we'll be in the BigComm App store by end of May.

Cheers!

Trent!

[NathanB]

I really like your concept and website. The only thing I could possibly criticise is your under use of Flash. Flash is a powerful and versatile tool and could add soo much value to your existing product.

Also, if you happen to need any additional help with your website. I currently boast expert level skill in Microsoft FrontPage and have over 250 megabytes of clip-art I would gladly share with you royalty free.

Very interested to see how your launch goes and have liked you on Facebook! All the best.