Bridgeport-based GoECart, a software provider for ecommerce websites, has responded to the increased use of social media tools by interfacing social media applications into its application products. For its efforts, GoECart has been named the runner-up for the Hartford Business Journal’s “Best Use of Social Media” Award.
GoECart is a hosted application that allows merchants who sell online to set up their website to include all the components necessary for ecommerce, including payment, shipping, tax calculation and order and content management.
GoECart founder and CEO Manish Chowdhary said his company has a two-fold relationship with social media.
“One is to promote our own business, and secondly, being a software product and a platform, we need to enable our merchants to have an effective social media presence via our product,” Chowdhary said.
One way in which GoECart clients can use social media through the GoECart platform is with product reviews.
“People are making purchasing decisions online based on what others are saying about their product,” he said. “GoECart enables our merchants to easily collect those product reviews and display them alongside the product on their website.”
Through GoECart, consumers can also “like” a product on Facebook directly from the merchant’s website, “share” it on Facebook or “tweet” the product on Twitter.
“You’re bringing in a component of social media as part of your ecommerce shopping experience,” Chowdhary said.
The demand for social media integration among GoECart clients skyrocketed in 2010.
“Certain industries lend themselves very well to social media interactions, and, just like everybody else, our merchants are trying to figure out how to employ the social media in an effective way,” he said.
In addition to the use of social media websites, GoECart provides support to merchants for RSS (web) feeds, a type of content delivery vehicle.
GoECart customers who have a brick-and-mortar presence are also using GoECart’s location-based service applications, such as Four Square, Google Places and Facebook Places. Such applications use GPS navigation to track and reward users for “checking in” at certain sites, such as retailers.
To promote GoECart’s own products, the company uses Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and a blog to create relationships with clients and potential clients.
Chowdhary said his company sees a huge potential in social media, but they realize it’s about meaningful engagement, not just about having a presence for the sake of presence.
“We have to separate trends from fads because most businesses have limited resources, and they need to wisely invest in channels that will result in long-lasting and meaningful results,” he said.
