Mark Zuckerberg says "social commerce is the next area to really blow up”. According to Wired: Social Commerce, building “a social layer on top of online commerce”, “turning products into conversations”, is attracting big funding, big buzz and generating big revenue.

If you're not there yet, online retailers need to understand what's emerging and plan how it effects them.

For more background and to inform yourself:

1. A set of slides and examples on Social Commerce
2. A "speed summary" on Social Commerce in Wired.
3. The full article on Social Commerce in Wired (worth the read).