This morning I had a lively chat with Jeffrey Grau, senior analyst from eMarketer on the current and future state of social commerce. Interestingly enough, it seems that an article I wrote way back in March 18, 2008, “Get in the Social Shopping Craze” caught his eye. I think it was the nostalgia for Tupperware that did it 

I found this particularly interesting and yes, flattering that he thought it was one of the more interesting articles on the topic even this many months later. I think what was most compelling for him and we talked a bit about it was the historical context that  framed and gave context to all the seemingly newfangled “stuff” around social shopping. As we discussed, it really is quite simple –

Socializing is an inherent human behavior. Shopping is not only a pasttime and activity in our culture but a major part of our economic and cultural fiber. The advance of technology, social networks, apps, sites and so forth captures these inherent behaviors, brings them together, enables and advances our behaviors in ways that were never before possible. But the behaviors themselves at their core, the desire and actions around socialization and commerce really haven’t changed.. So while in many ways it’s a different, wild and woolly world out there – it many ways it always has been….and at the core nothing has really changed much at all.

Figuring out what this means for your business is also not so mystical. Key issues are: understanding your customers, reaching and engaging them where they are, creating experiences that addresses their needs, interests and wants — as we move towards an anywhere, anytime shopping experience. Now while this might not be so mysterious…executing successfully is a whole other universe to tackle.