Designing the Next Generation of Social Commerce Platforms

2017年10月13日，Facebook宣布在其社交网络上推出一项新的订餐功能，再次表明其有意成为电子商务领域的重要参与者。Facebook实践的电子商务类型是创新的，因为它利用了社交网络成员之间存在的社会关系。社交商务（s-commerce）被定义为在计算机介导的社会环境中，发生在个人社会网络中或受其影响的与交换相关的活动。大多数电子商务研究都集中在理解这个迷人的概念上，它如何影响消费者行为，应该如何接近它，以及它如何为公司的底线做出贡献。但是，没有人研究如何设计使电子商务成为可能的系统。***本提案旨在研究企业部署的s-commerce平台和消费者用于与s-commerce平台交互的s-commerce移动app的设计。第一个目标是提出并验证考虑到s-commerce的特殊性的s-commerce平台和应用程序的结构化、系统化和可重复的设计方法。由于可用性是移动应用成功或失败的重要因素，本研究的第二个目标是提出并验证一种新的s-commerce应用可用性评估工具和措施。设计科学研究方法学、面向服务的计算和服务组合将是用于解决第一个目标的主要方法学方法，而构造概念化、度量开发和验证程序将用于解决第二个目标。***本研究通过创新的设计框架和模型以及新颖的可用性评估方法填补了s-commerce的概念和设计空白，预计将产生学术影响。它还将对电子商务平台和应用程序的重要设计方法、模型和原型产生实际影响；设计师可以使用可用性评估工具来创建更好的电子商务应用。最后，它将通过使加拿大电子商务公司接受电子商务作为了解客户的新范例，并将其电子商务网站转变为围绕其品牌，产品和服务的对话蓬勃发展的社区，从而产生经济影响。

On October 13, 2017 Facebook announced the launch of a new feature for ordering food on its social network, signaling once again its intention to become a serious player in the e-commerce arena. The type of e-commerce practiced by Facebook is innovative because it leverages the social ties that exist between members of the social network. Social commerce (s-commerce) is defined as the exchange-related activities that occur in, or are influenced by, an individual's social network in computer-mediated social environments. Most s-commerce research is focused on understanding this fascinating concept, how it affects consumer behaviour, how it should be approached, and how it contributes to a company's bottom line. But there is no research on how to design the systems that enable s-commerce. ***This proposal aims to research the design of s-commerce platforms deployed by businesses and s-commerce mobile apps used by consumers to interact with s-commerce platforms. The first objective is to propose and validate a structured, systematic and repeatable design approach for s-commerce platforms and apps that takes into consideration the specificities of s-commerce. Because usability is an important factor in the success or failure of mobile apps, the second objective of this research is to propose and validate a new usability assessment instrument and measures for s-commerce apps. Design Science Research Methodology, Service Oriented Computing and Service Composition will be the main methodological approaches used to tackle the first objective, while the Construct Conceptualization, Measure Development, and Validation Procedure will be used to address the second objective. ***This research is anticipated to have an academic impact by filling the conceptual and design gap of s-commerce with innovative design frameworks and models and a novel usability assessment approach. It will also have a practical impact in the form of vital design methods, models, and prototypes for s-commerce platforms and apps; and usability assessment tools to be used by designers to create better s-commerce apps. Finally, it will have an economic impact by enabling Canadian e-commerce companies to embrace s-commerce as a new paradigm for understanding their customers and turning their e-commerce websites into communities where conversations flourish around their brand, products and services.