The link between social media and online purchases

This Mashable post indicates that few shoppers come directly from a social network to make an online purchase. The article questions the link between social media and online purchases. Of course, that does not mean that social media does not influence purchases just as it does not suggest that traditional word-of-mouth does not influence purchases.A lot of social media's influence is in the "middle of the funnel" where consumers evaluate and establish their preferences. It is difficult to link that directly to a click-through purchase. Thus, the shortcoming of social media marketing efforts!
http://mashable.com/2011/04/27/social-media-retail-purchases/

Thanks to Emanuel Rosen for posting this to Facebook.