The Top 50 Fastest-Growing Facebook Cross-Channel Retailers - Page 2 of 4

By The Retail Online Integration Staff

The Top 50 Fastest-Growing Facebook Cross-Channel Retailers

No. 1 CVS
The retail pharmacy chain has claimed the top spot in this year’s ranking of the 50 fastest-growing retailers on Facebook. CVS has used the social networking site in a multitude of ways to engage its 576,608 fans (as of press time), including as a forum for discussion — e.g., pharmacists and nurse practitioners were made available in September to answer consumers’ questions around the upcoming cold and flu season; as a link to its weekly ad circular, which is posted in its own tab; as a source for consumers to find discounts and promotions to help them save money (the tab is appropriately titled Stop Trashing Money, with humorous videos highlighting the value of CVS’ ExtraBucks reward points); provides access to an express photo app that enables consumers to print their Facebook photos and pick them up at a nearby CVS store in an hour; and other functions.

CVS has used coupon sites to help grow its Facebook fan base. For example, earlier this year CVS offered on multiple coupon sites a deal for a free full-size bottle of moisturizing body wash in exchange for a Facebook “Like.” This is just one example of several campaigns like this that CVS has run.

While maybe not as flashy as other retailers’ Facebook pages (e.g., Victoria’s Secret, H&M), CVS’ growth on the social site is skyrocketing because it’s offering relevant content that consumers are finding value in — much like the products featured in its stores. — Joe Keenan

No. 44 J.C. Penney
Appearing at No. 44 on our list is J.C. Penney. The cross-channel retailer was one of the first brands to reach 1 million fans on Facebook (just behind Victoria’s Secret) back in Media Logic’s March installment of its retailers’ Facebook growth study. Acquiring 1 million Facebook fans is no easy task, but J.C. Penney has continued to blossom socially. So much so in fact that the company has seen a 301 percent increase in its fan base year-over-year.

The continued growth is likely due to the fact that in January J.C. Penney announced it was stopping mailing its legendary catalogs. The news was a little disconcerting for some but not altogether shocking, as J.C. Penney had made its entire catalog available on its company Facebook page in December 2010. The retailer’s Facebook page now allows users to add items to a shopping cart, add and remove products from their cart, specify shipping address, check out, ship to store, and pay with a credit card — all within the social media platform. J.C. Penney’s Facebook page also engages its fans with a JCP rewards tab, photos, video and social-sharing capabilities.

By putting its entire catalog on Facebook, the company is able to reach a younger and more engaged demographic. Just from March to September alone, J.C. Penney added 176,905 fans. And now with the integration of F-commerce, the retailer isn’t looking to slow down any time soon. — Meredith Cunningham

◆ An interesting measure of a brand's engagement with its Facebook pages has emerged over the last couple of months as an insidious spam generator has spread through the space. Facebook accounts have either been hijacked or created in order to post false offers from Target, JetBlue, Apple and other brands.

The presence of spam posts and how long it takes for a brand to cleanse its wall when they appear is suggestive of that brand's level of attention. A significant number of the brands on this list were being victimized by these spam posts when checked in late August, including Victoria's Secret PINK, Aeropostale, Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein.

◆ Seven of the 10 fastest-growing Facebook brands default users to a "Top Posts" wall where both brand and user-generated posts are visible. All of the top 10 brands actively cleanse their pages of spam. This suggests, in a roundabout way, that active engagement by a brand is now a driver of fan growth.

◆ Victoria's Secret and Victoria's Secret PINK have held the No. 1 and No. 2 spots for most Facebook fans since Media Logic started tracking retail brands. Quite clearly sex sells — or at least attracts eyeballs. But this success seems to be making the retailers lazy, as both brands' walls aren't being well tended and are regularly covered with spam.

◆ The master of all things social is H&M. The retailer has attracted 7.8 million Facebook fans and 366,000 Twitter followers, making it the only brand with more than 1 million Facebook fans and 300,000 Twitter followers. Only Urban Outfitters has more Twitter followers, but its yet to attract 1 million Facebook fans.

◆ Seven of the top 10 fastest-growing Facebook retailers encourage and manage fan participation, maintaining open walls (defaulting to "Top Posts") and making sure those walls are free of spam and off-topic discussions.

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Cover Story: The Top 50 Fastest-Growing Facebook Cross-Channel Retailers