When I need to buy a perfect outfit for a special occasion I make sure that my friends accompany me and ensure that I don't end up buying something completely hideous. Without recommendations or suggestions I'am always apprehensive about whatever I am about to buy.

It's not just me, everyone prefers opinions from others that can help them in taking decisions while shopping, same rule applies to virtual shopping as well. Gone are the days them your clients simply log on to your website and straight away click on 'add to cart' button.

They will browse around in several social networking sites, check out likes, comments, links and testimonials before buying your product/services. This is known as Social Shopping.

It is a blend of E-commerce and social networking, where both sellers and buyers come together with their experiences, expertise, opinions, tastes, updates, recommendations and content to help each other in shopping online. There are several examples of social shopping websites (which are mentioned below) but I particularly wanted to give an example of Levis Store who have incorporated a "Friends Store" feature in their website.

They have added Facebook plugins in their site which allows their buyers to interact with 'like minded' people through the largest social networking site. "“We’re creating a new social shopping experience that will change the way people shop online and, frankly, make buying jeans more fun. We’re excited to pioneer this new technology and help our loyal fans connect with our brand and share their favorite Levi’s products with friends.” said Jodi Bricker (VP of digital) in an interview with Mashable.

Examples of Social Shopping Sites: