Today, virtually any conversation between two informed parties about the evolving retail consumer invariably becomes a quick draw competition to the words Social Media. This is driven entirely by consumers’ rapid and insatiable willingness to use seemingly impersonal electronic devices to engage with one another in the most personal of ways. Simple product choices and intimate, complex life decisions alike are being made in the blue-faced tint of LED/LCD screens all over the world, with input from trusted advisors and complete strangers — all of them virtually – and on devices ranging in size from massive, networked screens once used for single-direction entertainment (television) to the tiny wireless mobile computers (smartphones) that go everywhere we do.

As a result, our industry is positively buzzing with ideas and opportunity for new ways to become part of the consumers’ life. However, at this early stage in the game, while retailers recognize previously unseen ways to incorporate new tools into their brand offering and better become that part of a consumer’s life, and as technologists race to fold the information generated from consumer-driven tech into their own product capabilities, there is still much confusion as to what constitutes a strong use of social media technologies. This is clearly evidenced by the figure below from our soon-to-be-released first-ever benchmark report on the topic. The data is based on responses from 111 qualified retailers.

In brief, retailers recognize the value and potential value social media holds, but that its impact and best uses are yet to be determined. Unfortunately, they have no choice in the matter — they are being dragged into the social media waters, ready or not.

For example, 75% of retailers agree that social media helps round out the retail consumer experience; from a consumer perspective, the more free and actionable the flow of product and brand information, the better. It’s encouraging to see that retailers are completely aware that the customer is driving the bus here. In fact, a whopping 72% say the customer is forcing them to have a social media presence in the first place. Without the consumer’s desire to use new devices and new platforms in completely new ways, many retailers would be quite content to delay their sink/swim moment until better prepared.

However, most don’t feel that a strong plan to extract value from social media programs – for the retailer, at least – currently exists; 79% tell us that it will hold great value to retailers in coming years, but that today, there just isn’t enough data to direct which course to take. As a result, as we will share when the full report releases later this month, many retailers are enacting social media programs which, while hopefully providing some relevance/value to the consumer, appear to have very little value to the retailer, itself. These programs are launching under the simple premise of having something in the way of social media offering, if only for fear of being left behind without one.

The full report will detail the challenges retailers are facing, the opportunities they perceive and the technologies they find most valuable, as well as analysis and suggestions based on the varying tacks taken by top performers. Please look for its release on May 19.