Which U.S. department store website was the most popular on Facebook during the holiday season?
You may be surprised to learn it was Sears.com, which is not in the top-10 shopping sites. Walmart.com, which is in the top 10, came in second.
The findings come from a new study by Searchmetrics that analyzed the number of Facebook Likes, comments and shares for top U.S. retail store websites. The study actually serves as further proof that consumers are using social media as a discovery tool (the same way they do search) for finding product information online.
"It makes sense retailers are trying to generate social activity and mentions on Facebook as growing evidence shows that consumers are using social media as a key discovery tool for finding information online," said Marcus Tober CTO and founder of Searchmetrics. "And of course it is a powerful recommendation if consumers see Likes, shares and positive comments about a retailer or its products from their own Facebook friends."
As an indication of Facebook's growing power in this area, SearchmetricsTober quoted a recent Forrester study of nearly 5,000 US consumers, which revealed that Facebook came second only to Google as a source for finding information - ahead of TV ads and TV shows.