Social technologies are changing how consumers make decisions and how shops, restaurants, and retailers alike make a sale. The term "social shopping" has popped up in an effort to describe the new technologies that are changing the ways consumers shop and make decisions. A lot of bloggers use the term "social shopping" as a blanket for this new trend in how people buy and share their purchases. However, as social technologies evolve, new business models come up making the term "social shopping" a bit bloated as there is a lot that can fall into the category. Awareness of these technologies is critical to the retail marketer and they can be extremely beneficial to the socially savvy shopper.

There are a number of trends to be aware of. For instance, there are new mobile applications, localized sites, augmented reality applications, social shopping/sharing avenues, location based networking sites, and more that consumers are using to make decisions about what to buy, where to go, and what to spend. It takes the entire concepts behind word of mouth and makes them work faster than ever. The good word of mouth about your business that would once take a week or two to get from one friend to another over a phone conversation or otherwise, can now be shared between networks and friends without even a second thought- simply a push of a button or swipe of a credit card. Its not even word of mouth anymore, it is word of action, arguably. Nevertheless, whether you are a business, marketer or a lover of shopping and bargaining, these tends and tools are something to stay aware of as they can help us all make better decisions across the board.