Imagine a world where consumer behavior is managed online. Multi-purpose bar codes become a replacement for your mobile calender and to do list as everything is simply scanned in, all actions embedded into one universal system. This sounds like a crazy conspiracy theory but we aren’t so far off from, at the very least, a totally social and tech-managed shopping process. You can buy your virtual pigs and the latest Jackson Pollock biography in one trip. With e-commerce sites linking to live feeds, your followers will be instantly notified of your purchases, judge you on the spot with a “like” or hasty comment, and then brands will whip up a sidebar ad to encourage you to do it again.

So in this new world, let’s say Facebook becomes the new Walmart. Product lines and in-stock merchandise litter Fan Pages and urge you to “friend” your favorite store/product.  Instead of joining a group then promptly forgetting about it, consumers actually make transactions and share the bargains they found with virtual shopping buddies. Augmented reality applications could further blur this line by turning your desktop into a mini-mall.

Well, Facebook is doing just that. Here’s what’s going on in their world:

• partnering with PayPal.
• allowing apps to test out their own e-commerce models.
• Ex: FarmVille (sort of) did it by introducing virtual goods, earning them over $100 million last year.
• taking measures to secure the spot as a social marketplace and forum; and potentially less of an avenue for socializing itself.

Setting itself up as a useful retail tool will allow Facebook to sustain its edge over other networks, in partnership with top brands, IF it can find a way to make some dollars in the process:

• The “use of Fan Pages increased store visits by 36 percent.”
• “Amount spent increased by 45 percent.”
• “Loyalty increased by 41 percent…”
• …BUT “only about 5 percent of the firm’s 13,000 customers became Facebook fans within three months.” (From AdRants.com).

Our social networks and online activities are the new “points” for marketers to think about in a point-of-purchase strategy.  Whether the consumer wants this intrusion or not, it’s where things are headed.

So, how will marketers track these intangible purchases if not at a cash register?

A new kind of bar code perhaps. Traceable ads (things like cookies) could make people fear we are entering a 1984-like state. But, if marketers are jacking your personal info anyway, every time you buy something online, why not be in control of what you see and how you pay for it?

With more efficient technology, consumers will be able to do everything in one stop, like the QuickTrip of the media world.

• Ex:  Brands like Coca Cola have begun creating digital billboards putting ambient media everywhere you want to be.
• Keep in mind, there is a fine line between helping the consumer and intruding into all aspects of currently unbranded life. Think of the advertising clutter shown in futuristic movies, down to branded hospitals: (Starbucks Medical Center anyone?)

Late adopters will be chatting about this trend next year, but risk takers and innovators are clinging onto it now. As E-commerce marries social, including mobile devices and networks, tagging a purchase even furthers the cause for geo-targeting. “Going local” means more than fresh farmer’s market produce, but connects you to similar shoppers in your area. Hopefully this will keep all human interaction from taking place via broadband.

• To marketers: Give consumers what they want and aid them in the process. Be transparent. Offer something unique and don’t spam. And please, don’t make digital the new bumper sticker.
• To consumers: Be smart when engaging in online purchase behavior. The old privacy rules still apply.