Twitter is emerging as a “Game changer” this holiday season

As reported in the New York Times this week, America’s first Twitter Holiday shopping season got underway on Black Friday. It’s hard to believe that just six months ago, retail and shopping center marketers were struggling to understand how to take advantage of the quirky social media site. Expect those that didn’t shy away, but embraced the challenge of working with Twitter’s 140 character limit and its easy integration onto smart phones will be winners.

Twitter is the perfect medium for instantly updating a data base of followers on desired information. It shines in moments when the focus of many is on a common issue. Its power became evident during the 2008 US election and the inauguration ceremonies for Barack Obama, when thousands of Twitter members posted minute by minute impressions of the massive event. Well, for the next four weeks the issue on the minds of most North Americans is how to deal with the annual holiday shopping crush.

The strategies of the pacesetters among the retail community became evident in the post Thanksgiving shopping free for all. Mall of America in Bloomington Minnesota used Twitter to tell followers where the best parking spots were located. Special deals were posted to followers by retailers such as Best Buy, J.C. Penny, Toys R Us, Bloomingdales and Barneys.

According to the New York Times report, 47% of US retailers said they would increase their use of social media this holiday season. More than 50% of retailers said that they added or improved the Facebook and Twitter pages.

Twitter’s power to influence is amplified when followers re-tweet the updates from retailers or shopping centers to their own network of followers. And, by saving a Twitter short-code to her smart phone a shopper can instantly share her finds and recommendations by tweeting her followers.

I believe, that the activity we will see this Holiday Season only scratches the service of the deep potential that Twitter has to positively affect shopping centers and retailers. Look beyond the marketing aspects, and the technology has a huge potential to “crowd source” solutions for operations people. For example, security and maintenance departments could be alerted to areas of concern by customers and staff instantly, providing them with additional eyes and ears to supplement their own people.

This holiday will be a game-changer for Twitter. With its value validated, we can expect the ranks of its detractors to shrink considerably.

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