Imagine finding a great pair of jeans, asking your friends' opinions, and ultimately making a purchase - all while in the confines of Facebook.

This is modern shopping, digital style.

Facebook is just one site for social shopping that has formidable potential, yet is still in its infancy. Expectations are such that retail circles are already referring to it as "F-commerce."

"We don't know where it will go, but it's big enough that it won't go away," says Lori Schafer, co-author with Bernard Brennan of Branded! How Retailers Engage Consumers with Social Media and Mobility, and executive advisor for SAS Institute's retail practice.

On average, men and women shop online for apparel about once per month, according to the Cotton Incorporated Lifestyle Monitor™ Survey. Men spend significantly more time shopping online than in stores (103 minutes vs. 89 minutes), while women are in stores or online for the same amount of time: 110 minutes.

Starting in late 2010, retailers began creating "shops" on their Facebook pages for free. The "Shop" link is located under each store's profile picture. Facebook does not create the store pages. Outside developers like Payvment, 8thBridge and Adgregate take on the task, often to the tune of $10,000 or more, according to a recent report in the Wall St. Journal.

Schafer says social commerce is where e-commerce was 10 years ago.

"Retailers need to look at the examples of others who are doing F-commerce and find ways to engage consumers," Schafer says. "F-commerce isn't a strategy, it's another storefront."

Facebook currently has a global audience of more than 677 million. Some have pointed out that if Facebook were a country, it would be the third most populated in the world, right behind China and India. The largest number of Facebook users comes from the United States, with more than 149 million, according to CheckFacebook.com. Next is Indonesia, with almost 38 million and the United Kingdom, with 29 million.

Current F-commerce apparel shops include Asos, Banana Republic, Brooks Brothers, Express and JC Penney.

"We launched an e-commerce application on our Facebook page at the end of last year," says Kate Parkhouse, JC Penney spokesperson. "The tab on our Facebook page is a full commerce experience, including checkout, without having to leave the Facebook environment. With over 1.7 million friends and growing, our Facebook page remains a vital tool for engaging our customers as they explore and share the JC Penney brand."

Almost three-fourths of women (73%) and 60% of men say they browse for apparel online, Monitor data reveal, and consumers earning more than $25,000 per year are significantly more likely to do so (67% vs. 58%). Those making $75,000 or more browse online the most, at 72%.

Some retailers are trying to pair that browsing time with the enormous amount of time people spend on Facebook each month. The Nielsen Company reports people spend a tremendous 6 hours and 23 minutes per month, or 25 minutes a day, on Facebook. Compare that to its closest competitors: 2 hours, 33 minutes each month for AOL Media Network; 2 hours, 15 minutes for Yahoo!; 1 hour, 20 minutes for YouTube; and 1 hour, 19 minutes for Google.

On Facebook, users have been "liking" everything from friends' photos to music videos to denim jeans sold at an online store. The F-commerce shops allow users to blend that all together--"like" an outfit, buy it, and then share with friends without ever leaving Facebook.

"There is a blurred line between F-commerce and social shopping," Schafer says. "Social shopping involves friends and family in purchasing decisions, whether shopping directly on Facebook, or linked through Facebook. Or shoppers can link with a friend and go to e-commerce sites to shop. Social shopping has become popular. F-commerce is a subset of that."

Social media, Schafer says, is here to stay and that is posing a lot of tough decisions for retailers: They realize they need to be on Facebook. But being on the social site simply to interact with customers, and being on there to sell are two different things.

"The jury is still out whether F-commerce will take over e-commerce," Schafer says. But I think what is most effective now for retailers is figuring out different ways through social shopping to further engage with customers on Facebook."

The company Skuloop works with retailers to jazz up their Facebook pages and entice consumers to shop -- even when they hadn't planned to do so.

The Monitor survey finds 66% of women and 79% of men plan their apparel purchases. Women earning more than $75,000 a year are more apt to buy on impulse (37%), as are men aged 25-to-34 (27%). On average, women spend $59 on apparel each month, compared to the $54 spent by men.

Skuloop creates entertaining lures, like photo hunt games that give users a discount, while others allow them to take part in limited sales on the retailer's Facebook page.

"The point is for consumers to become fans of the retailer more for engagement while on Facebook," Schafer explains. "It's looking for exclusive deals or discounts, but it's not a substitute for regular commerce. If a retailer can blend both, it's probably a more viable solution in the short term than just having F-commerce with no engagement to it."

JC Penney's page supports a full e-commerce experience right on Facebook, including "add to cart," "checkout," and "pay with credit card" features.

"By introducing commerce capability, we are able to take our Facebook experience to the next level, providing convenient features that encourage social integration and user contribution as our customers shop," Coultas says.

Schafer says retail is years away from knowing whether F-commerce will actually replace e-commerce.

"It's not happening tomorrow, but every retailer needs to see if makes sense for them now."