A study released by Toronto based retail and marketing consulting firm J.C. Williams group conforms what many know intuitively –that there’s a strong link between online shopping and use of social networking or Web 2.0 tools.

Conducted in April, the study polled a sample group of 1,500 online buyers. It compared the shopping habits of consumers who buy items online and 500 offline buyers. It compared the shopping habits of consumers who buy items online to those who use the web, but make their purchases offline. It is indicated, for instance, that compared to web surfers who did not make online purchases, online buyers were more than twice as likely to have written a product review (29 percent versus nine percent); twice as likely to have posted video content to be to the web (19 percent versus 8 percent); and far more likely to have written a blog) 35 percent versus 21 percent).

‘It is indicative of the shift to an empowered consumer and the rapid fragmentation of media channels, “according to Jim Ojamura, senior partner at J.C. Williams. This trend, he says, “definitely represents a challenge for online marketers.”

The information-sharing habits developed in online com-habits, developed in online communities means shoppers can ask questions and get advice about intended purchases in real time, according to Hunter Madsen, a formal social scientist who directs marketing for Yahoo! “You could call it the social engagement effect on e-commerce” said Madsen. “Marketers have been somewhat hesitant up to now to advertise in the Web’s community sites, for a variety of reasons,” said Madsen. “But this study suggests that – other things being equal – social networking sites are where they’ll find some of their most responsive shoppers.”

More than half of the study respondent’s reports having used social networking tools for one year or less.