Geoff Quinn , CEO TM Lewin – I was on stage with Geoff at a recent Retail Week Ecommerce Summit. Image via Flickr by 160e29c6. We’ve spoken at more social media conferences and events in the last three months than in the first three years of FreshNetworks’ existence. One of the benefits of all the talking has been the opportunity to listen to other social media speakers and experts. Neville Hobson @jangles – sage advice with a strong PR-slant on social media. Gary Veynerchuck – Gary was the highlight of SXSW for me. Michelle is a great social media trainer. MORE >>

Until now, food retailers and consumer packaged goods were somewhat sheltered from the toughening economy, with 40% of people spending more on groceries than 3 months ago (according to Deloitte ) – a result not just determined by inflation, but the fact that the tough current economy means that people spending are more time at home cooking for themselves rather than eating out in bars and restaurants. With this in mind, food retailers would do well to explore options like Tesco’s partnership with Foodie.fm. The Foodie.fm At the core of Foodie.fm Tweet This! MORE >>

of China’s retail sales today to 7.4% This is not just because the government subsidised high speed internet aids online shopping, but also because China’s has an expensive, inefficient ‘ bricks-and-mortar ‘ retail ecosystem and so a quarter of Chinese shoppers seek products online because they are not physically available in-store. So what should retailers do to take advantage of the growing social and e-commerce market space in China? Jo Stratmann Social commerce Social media Social networks China social media ecommerce Retailby 2015. Tweet This! MORE >>

This time the topic was ‘social media and retail’. Matt Rhodes at the FreshNetworks Breakfast Briefing. Another successful FreshNetworks breakfast briefing has just come to a close. The two speakers were Naomi Paget (Head of Direct Marketing at TM Lewin ) and our own Matt Rhodes. The breakfast briefing was split into three main parts. First, Naomi talked about how TM Lewin has been using social media as part of their e-commerce site and then Matt presented the results of a recent campaign we ran with Jimmy Choo. First up was Naomi. TM Lewin: the Off the Cuff online community. MORE >>

Taking just online retail sites as an example, the Hitwise report shows that traffic from social media sites has risen by 13% in the year to September 2010 with 9.1% of visits to all online retailers now coming from social media. Tags: Matt Rhodes Social Media Social commerce Social media for retail Social networks facebook FreshNetworks Google Hitwise Jimmy Choo Social network Social network service social search YouTube Image by LarimdaME via Flickr. Facebook accounts for 1 in every 6 page views in the UK. of all internet visits in the UK. With 11.5% and Bing. Tweet This! MORE >>