Social media is everywhere and if you want your business to be successful, joining is necessary. For retail, if your store does not have a place on social media customers will go looking somewhere else. Retail stores have done a great job of implementing social media into their everyday lives however there can be some challenges and risks that can occur when bringing an organizations brand social.
One example would be stock. For instance, I’m sure everyone has seen an item online that they love but really want to see it in person. You then decide to go into the store and view it and, it’s not there! It’s happened to me and I can tell you I was extremely frustrated. I mean, why not have something that is online in the store? This happens a lot within retail where some items are only online or some stores have items that other stores don’t. To help salvage this, items that are only available online should be labeled “Online exclusive” so customers understand that they will not be able to go see them in store.
Another example of a challenge retail stores have when putting their brand social is different promotions!
This is the same as having different things in your store. You go into the store because you saw an item online that you loved for a price you loved even more and when you get there it’s not on sale! This is a challenge retail stores have because customers want to know that this is an online only sale so they get them items they’re looking for online and not travel into the store.
One of the biggest challenges is negative feedback from consumers. Retail stores get that one or two customers that had a bad experience and their pages are then loaded with negative feedback. Other customers then read this and have to decide if they’re still going to make that purchase or not but that one or two comments are having other customers question the purchase! This can be challenging because within social media people can post anything! Retail stores to avoid this need to be on top of their customer service responding to these inquiries and doing everything they can to make the customer happy. Sometimes there is nothing that can be done however retail stores need to be tracking and reading reviews from their consumers to make sure the same mistake doesn’t happen again.
One way retail stores can make sure their using social media properly is by using the Retail Social Media Model:
WOULD YOU POST ONLINE IF YOU HAD A NEGATIVE EXPERIENCE?
RETAIL STORES AND SOCIAL MEDIA 
I have had this happen to me many times, and that really has become the most frustrating thing about shopping today. Even if stores have the ability to show where it’s available (different stores or online), this isn’t always accurate. I would definitely post online if I had a negative experience. I would more likely post in terms of service (good or bad), but if I had an unusually difficult time locating a product I would share that with other customers. Besides calling the store before visiting, I can’t think of another way for consumers to help get around this problem.
You are so right in regard to negative feedback, it spreads like wildfire. I have seen some companies that receive negative feedback and respond to it in a professional way. I have seen others act unprofessionally and make themselves look even worse. I have also seen organizations delete negative feedback. I am not sure how you feel but I think it is better to respond to negative feedback in a professional manner than it is to delete it (unless the feedback contained profanity). It seems like there is more to hide when negative feedback is deleted, the company does not take ownership of the incident they simply ignore it.
I completely agree that it is better to respond to negative feedback than delete it. It is entirely possible to bring a customer back around to the positive side by rectifying the situation. If a comment is deleted, however, there isn’t much you can do to turn that situation around. Furthermore, other customers see comments being deleted, and that also gives them a poor view of the company. It’s best to just address the situation head on, do your best to rectify it, and then leave the rest up to the customer. Some people can never be pleased, but I think by addressing the situation, most people will come around.
Sometimes no feedback is worse than negative or positive feedback because the consumer is left to decide by chance if the product is right for them and the company has no idea if their message is getting out there. I know if you’re are a user of Amazon or EBay like I do then from time to time you will receive the annoying user email asking for feedback. Sometimes these emails can be friendly while others are downright rude asking, no wait demanding positive feedback. Unfortunately, most users have no issue providing negative feedback while in the moment full of passion venting their experience online. On the other hand if the user receives positive interactions they are more likely to ignore the user/company unless prodded or unless it was exceptional. Like the old cliché, 1 negative experience spreads 10 times faster than any one positive one.
I agree with you. Having different items and promotions online and in stores are very frustrating. There are people who prefer to shop online or in the store and those people should be entitled to the same merchandise and sales. I feel as if stores who give better deals online are trying to shut the in person shopper out as well as stifle in store sales. I have seen several businesses shut down their brick and mortar in favor of an online store only, which hurts the economy. While they may no longer have to deal with the expenses of running a store, they are probably losing the customer who is not able to shop online. I really have mixed feelings about this.