Social commerce is a subset of eCommerce where buyers rely on each other to discover new products and in one way or the other influence their shopping decisions.

The term 'Social Commerce' was first introduced by Yahoo! in November 2005 to describe "a set of online collaborative shopping tools such as shared pick lists, user ratings and other user-generated content-sharing of online product information and advice."

Well, the good thing about social commerce is that it helps buyers seek information about any product they want to purchase without investing a dime. There's no doubt that social commerce, these days, is the talk of the town and with n-numbers of social commerce tools out there, I know as a merchant, it's hard to make a choice but with us in the picture you don't have to worry. Here are 5 social commerce tools that every merchant should use.

Happy reading!

1. Jifiti

Jifiti is a social gifting app that allows users to purchase and send virtual gift cards to one another. Browse your favorite stores and send a gift to your friends' email, phone or Facebook page, instantly. The users can use the gift card either in-store or online.

As a merchant, you can contact the folks at Jifiti and they tell you how to go about it. They'll help you set up your own gift registry from where your customers can select, purchase and redeem their gifts.

2. QWIQQ

QWIQQ is the fastest and the easiest way for merchants to sell their products socially. All you need to do is create a QWIQQ and enable PayPal so that the products can be sold on QWIQQ, Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, email or SMS.

The app easilly integrates with PayPal with a 3.5% transaction fee is charged whenever an item posted to QWIQQ is purchased.

3. ScanSee

ScanSee is an app that combines all the best existing shopping apps into one, helping the buyers get the best deals.

The buyer can easily locate stores, products, services, daily deals, coupons, discounts and all related information in one place. Buyers can also compare prices from nearby merchants, online and off.

As a merchant, this is a go-get deal for you if you offer the best deals at the cheapest prices.

4. Share on Mobile

Share on Mobile allows users to share real-life photos  of the usage of the products that they have purchased using their mobile phone. Developed by ShopSocially, this app helps users create social photo testimonials that can be displayed on the merchant's website, or Facebook Page.

You can also use this app to run photo popularity contest using social voting based on Facebook Likes.

5. Shopkick

Shopkick helps you find what you are exactly looking for, discover new products that you might like to buy and save money every time you shop, be it at the stores you already go to.

Users receive reward points ,"Kicks" for visiting stores like Target, Best Buy, Macy's, Old Navy and more. You get even more Kicks when you scan items and make purchases. Users can also receive special deals and exclusive offers.

As a merchant, if you want to use Shopkick, don't hesitate to contact the folks there.

Have you already used any of these apps? Feel free to share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.

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