전자상거래에서 단골관계 형성을 위한 SNS의 기능 분석 및 활용

One of the most conspicuous characteristics of a business model that pursues expanding customer relationship is that it tries to lock in customers by encouraging them to repeat purchase in the long-term with the help of “Follow” function in Social Networking Service (SNS), which enables producers to automatically register the customers as potentially important ones and to offer them customized marketing services. In the value chain of the agriculture sector, producers of agricultural products can use SNS functions to provide loyal customers with valuable information and experiences such as the real-time information of their farm and products, hidden stories about the whole process from seeding to harvesting, and the storage and cooking methods of their products. These activities help the producers invoke customers’ desire to live in the farm and to grow the products themselves. They also raise the accessibility of the producers’ websites as customers are able to share a variety of news and knowledge such as the release of new products. This means that the producers’s websites are now functioning to enable the producers to perform sales and promotion related activities. It is a big leap from the traditional e-commerce business model where sales and promotion of a product were separated and could be connected only through outside links. This two-way, viral characteristics of marketing services using SNS facilitate customers to share product information and their purchase experience with each other, which leads to more effective and efficient communication within the customer community.