Designing the Next Generation of Social Commerce Platforms

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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.