Negative Attention Surrounding Social Networks Impacting RetailersSocial-referral traffic will generate 11 percent less revenue per visit in the fourth quarter compared to a year earlier.

[Collection]The negative attention social media has garnered this year is starting to impact retailers, but it won’t be enough to dent sales in the upcoming holiday season. According to technology firm Adobe, social referral traffic will generate 11 percent less revenue per visit in the final three months of the year compared with the fourth quarter of 2017. It is the only marketing channel to see a decline in RPV, despite the increase in referral traffic coming from social. Shoppers are expected to consult social media sites 25 percent less for gift ideas this year and Adobe attributes all of this to consumers’ weakening trust in social networks. “We’ve seen a lot of events in the news lately where consumers have observed things that might have shaken their trust in social networks so they might be less likely to transact through the social network,” said Taylor Schreiner, director of Adobe Digital Insights. Nevertheless, thanks to other marketing channels, it’s not set to hurt online sales, with Adobe forecasting it will reach a record $124.1 billion this season, around 15 percent higher than a year earlier. In contrast, the National Retail Federation has predicted that off-line retail spending is expected to increase a modest 2.7 percent. However, it stressed that just being

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Read More...https://wwd.com/business-news/retail/negative-press-surrounding-social-networks-impacting-retailers-1202896498/