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Social Shopping. It's exploding. And it is evolving quickly.

A year ago if you had asked me about social shopping I would have pointed you to Amazon and told you that the product reviews from actual buyers were examples of social shopping. Six months ago I would have told you about shopping aggregation websites like Kaboodle which allow you to view, comment, and receive deals from multiple retailers. Two weeks ago I would have told you about the new Facebook integration into websites like Levi's "Friend Store" and how you can see what your friends like. And today. Well today I'd tell you it's all about what I call the Discount Crowdsourced Shopping Experience (DCSE) being powered by Groupon, Living Social, Gilt, Blackboard Eats, Wines Til Sold Out (WTSO) and more.

I'll give you a quick glossary-like description on each referenced DCSE at the end of this post, but first let me explain what this is.

A few months back I wrote a post about a new business ready to take off. What I described there was the advancement of location-based applications like Foursquare, Gowalla, and MyTown combined with recommendation websites like Yelp and Citysearch, and how they were providing huge opportunities for shop owners to drive people into their stores. DCSE's go the next step and offer discounts to drive you into these stores. All of these DCSE's are essentially mailing lists and you get regular (often daily) deals sent to your inbox.

With these DCSE sites like Groupon and LivingSocial, people are flocking to them because the deals are often tremendous, averaging in the neighborhood of 50% off of very desirable products and meals. Groupon is the leader at the moment, but if you know anyone that uses Groupon, odds are they are also using one or more of the others I mentioned. Note: part of this depends where you live. If you are in LA or New York, you can see it in action. If you live in Boise, this hasn't quite gotten to you yet. But the model is working and odds are you will see this soon in your town.

Let me tell you how I know it's working.

Last week Groupon offered a deal to celebrate Mother's Day. A local day spa in Los Angeles, Le Petite Retreat offered two treatments that normally cost $235 for only $79. A 66% discount. Incredible, right? I couldn't resist, so I bought one for my wife.

Guess how many others bought the deal? If you had asked me, I would have said 200. Maybe 300. The answer: 1,332.

Yes! So that is why I can tell you, this is exploding. I don't know the day spa business. But my guess is that this place just booked more business in one day than in the past few months combined. (based on the $79 fee, the small business just grossed over $105,000 in one day.)

Now, this is a good news / bad news situation. Or more like a be careful what you wish for situation. If you are a little shop that gets 20 customers a day. Heck, maybe even 50 on a great day. How do you deal with an influx this big?

Very carefully.

I've heard numerous stories lately where people purchased the Groupon or LivingSocial deal only to find out that the place was so inundated that either they couldn't get a reservation for months or that the service and experience was awful.

If it were me and I was the owner of Le Petite Retreat, I would treat every customer that came in through this promotion like they paid $500. Forget that they only paid $79. Assume they paid more than the average customer. Don't ignore your regular patrons, but they already love you. These new customers are just that, new. And you know the saying, you only get one chance to make a first impression. Those 1,300+ people have the power to change your business. Think long term. This is going to be one of the most expensive advertising campaigns you've ever done, but also the most targeted. A true game changer.

But my guess is that they are not prepared to handle this. How could they be? I wonder what they thought would happen from this Groupon promotion? 500 people maybe? I think I'll ask them. If they respond, I'll let you know.

Getting back to the central point of this post. Social shopping is exploding. This is the next big thing. It's not one piece of technology. It's a quick progression in social media merging with eCommerce. And it is very exciting.

As I mentioned in that other post, if you are a shop owner and your product is good, the opportunity is amazing. The best in history. It's targeted, it's relatively easy, and the cost is probably the best investment you can ever make (some of these things are free). Get your head around it. If you can't, hire someone to do this for you. If you can't find anyone, tell your niece or nephew to study this stuff and start trying things. Shoot, tell them to email me, I'll point them in the right direction.

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As promised, here's a pseudo glossary to give you some quick explanations of some of these sites.

Groupon and LivingSocial are essentially email lists. Go to their websites, sign up and each day you'll get an email sent to you with a deal. You have one day to buy the deal. You pay in advance and then get an email confirmation that you print out and take with you. A common deal is 50% off. Thus, you might get an offer for $50 in food from a restaurant for $25. You pay in advance and you have a few weeks or sometimes months to actually use the deal. Think of it like buying a gift card. You paid $25 but now you have a voucher for $50.

Blackboard Eats is a similar concept, however, you don't have to buy in advance. You just get an email telling you about a great discount at trendy and often upscale restaurants. If you like the offer, they'll send you a text message or you can print the deal out and take it to the restaurant for your discount. It's a great way to try a restaurant that you've been thinking about but weren't sure about making the investment.

Gilt, also known as Gilt Groupe, is a site that discounts high priced fashion. You have to be invited and once you get the invite, you get daily emails offering you tremendous deals on jewelry, clothing, and other luxury items.

Wines Til Sold Out (WTSO) offers amazing discounts on wine in small quantities. You get an email telling you what the deal is right now. As soon as the wine is gone, a new email comes and they are on to the next one. You'll sometimes get 10 or more emails a day but if you are a wine lover, it's a great place to get a deal. Patience is key because you'll often go days or weeks without seeing anything appealing, but you'll look at those emails because missing that one deal will frustrate the heck out of you. Also check out CinderellaWine for a similar offering.