Leftfield Digital have been appointed to deliver ecommerce for Leeds Metropolitan University Student Union, following the successful re-launch of their Union website. The new store will be a customised Magento commerce installation, and will enable the Union to maximise revenue from their commercial activities.

Initially selling tickets for gigs and events (both for University venues but also other non-Union locations), branded merchandise and clothing, the initiative will look to extend the range of product and services offered by the Student Union online. Further integration between the various online systems will be delivered post-launch to provide students a single view user registration for all Union services. 

The site is due for launch for the start of the new academic year in early September.

Social Networking is becoming a key ingredient of eCommerce
19-Oct-07 10:33

EBay is going to launch a social network to support it’s online auction platform. The network will allow eBay members to join a number of retail neighbourhoods focused on areas such fashion, music and film.

The only question is ’Why has it taken them so long?’. It’s clear that for social marketplaces to be effective they need a high level of peer review. The more information available to the community members the better and allowing members to build up their consumer and supplier profiles will allow the online ’neighbourhood’ effect you get from local recommendations for shops and services.

The reality though is that you need a lot of element in place to run a successful social marketplace and these take a while to get in place.

There is a second story on NetImperative today comments on a ComScore report which highlights that Brits are the biggest social networks in Europe, which just goes to highlight further how essential social networking is going to be for corporate sites in general, and community sites in particular.