Social media sites including Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. have influenced 28 percent of U.S. holiday shoppers in gift-buying decisions that year, according to a survey by ComScore Inc.

Shoppers were most swayed by product reviews written by other consumers, the Reston, Virginia-based research firm said yesterday in a statement.

“We are getting our first real glimpse at the impact social media will play on commerce as we enter the next decade,” ComScore Chairman and co-founder Gian Fulgoni said

J.C. Penney Co. and Eastman Kodak Co. are using Facebook, the world’s largest social-networking site with more than 350 million users, and Twitter, a site that lets its more than 58 million users send 140-character messages, to lure shoppers searching for bargains online.

“Having a social media marketing strategy makes sense for retailers in that environment, considering it’s cost-effective and shows an effort to get closer to one’s customers,” Fulgoni […]

Orginal post by dhiram