We're busy hatching version 3 of Lasso, which brings us squarely into the fray of social commerce. The first customer has gone live and several others are following suit shortly.  I'll share these examples when they go live throughout March 2011.

So what is social commerce exactly?

We think of social commerce as the broad requirement that marketers will increasingly face in 2011 and beyond to begin to make money directly from the relationships that consumers have with one another.  That can take place on Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, mobile devices, other social networks, and web properties.

The best social commerce product and solutions providers will have technology and business processes that make these things happen without annoying consumers.

Groupon and group purchasing companies have dominated the landscape of social commerce thus far.  We have a group purchasing offering in Lasso v3.  But we're also (and perhaps more) interested in what comes after group purchasing.  Are there other ways that groups will form and make collective buying decisions?  How can technology help businesses earn more revenue and profit from groups they have either created or fostered over the years?  And what can be done for larger organizations that have earned large audiences over the years — how can they be empowered to succeed?

These are some of the questions we are answering with Lasso v3.