E-commerce looks set to change the online customer experience as it integrates into online communities.

E-tailing group Ripple6 launched a survey for frequent online shoppers in August this year – and they found that consumers are social e-creatures.

After discovering nearly half of people they surveyed spend three hours a week on social networking sites, their findings reveal that 83 per cent of online shoppers are interested in sharing information about products and their purchases.

And nearly half of those surveyed said they'd join and be active in online communities that exchange information about products.

As a result of this study, Ripple6 says the net will soon see online communities specially created for sharing information to make better online buying decisions.