On the digital age we are currently live in, almost everything on the web is somehow related to social networking. As it turns out, most people are apparently social creatures that want to stay connected to others even on the virtual world.

And so, almost all websites, blogs, forums and other online entities are integrating social networking elements. Even social networks are implementing other social networks elements. In this wide-crossing social spectrum, eCommerce is no different.

Today, when consumers are entering eCommerce sites, in many cases they EXPECT to find the familiar social networking ways to share, like, discuss, recommend and to find recommendations about the site’s products and services. In fact, those social elements can be the difference between just a visitor or a customer.

To help illustrate my point, I’ve found a nice infographic (you obviously can find it below) from Monetate which assembles all kinds of stats about how social elements affects eCommerce sites. The infographic’s data gathered from ExactTarget, Forrester Research, Gigya, HubSpot and Janrain.

As usual, here’s the textual version first:

• 65% of all adult internet users have at least one account on a social network. That is 800 percent increase from 2005.
• 80% of U.S. social networking users prefer to connect with brands through Facebook. 58% of consumers who “Like” a brand on Facebook expect discounts or promotions.
• In 2010, 41% of eCommerce site had a local guest account and only 28% had a social login. In 2011, the tables have turned- 24% of eCommerce sites had a local guest account and 41% had social login.
• 40% of consumers prefer social logins over creating new local guest accounts.
• The most frequently used social logins of shoppers: 60% Facebook, 12% Yahoo, 11% Twitter, 10% Google and 7% LinkedIn.
• 68% of consumers enter social networking sites to read product reviews. 50%+ of consumers are using social networks to provide product feedback, both positive and negative. 59% of consumers say that user-generated product reviews have a significant or good impact on their buying behavior.
• The average time on eCommerce sites where consumers can’t comment or share using their social networking account is 5 minutes. The average time on eCommerce sites where consumers share contents using social login is 11:35 minutes. The average time on eCommerce sites where consumers comment on contents using social login is 15:35 minutes.
• The average number of pageviews on eCommerce sites where consumers can’t comment or share using their social networking account is 4. The average number of pageviews on eCommerce sites where consumers share or comments on contents using social logins is 11.

Here’s the infographic with the full details: