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，再次表明它打算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联系。社会商务(S商务)是指在以计算机为媒介的社会环境中，发生在个人的社会网络中或受其影响的与交换相关的活动。S的大多数电子商务研究都集中在理解这一迷人的概念，它如何影响消费者行为，应该如何对待它，以及它如何为一家公司的利润做出贡献。但目前还没有关于如何设计支持S电子商务的系统的研究。 这项建议旨在研究商家部署的S电商平台和消费者使用的S电商手机应用程序与S电商平台互动的设计。第一个目标是提出并验证一种针对S电子商务平台和应用程序的结构化、系统性和可重复的设计方法，同时考虑到S电子商务的特殊性。由于可用性是移动应用成败的重要因素，本研究的第二个目标是提出并验证一种新的S电子商务应用可用性评估工具和措施。设计科学研究方法论、面向服务的计算和服务组合将是解决第一个目标的主要方法方法，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。 本研究有望通过创新的设计框架和模型以及一种新颖的可用性评估方法来填补S电子商务的概念和设计空白，从而产生学术影响。它还将产生实际影响，为S电子商务平台和应用程序提供重要的设计方法、模型和原型；以及可用性评估工具，供设计师用来创建更好的S电子商务应用程序。最后，它将产生经济影响，使加拿大电子商务公司能够将S电子商务作为了解客户的新范式，并将其电子商务网站转变为围绕其品牌、产品和服务展开对话的社区。

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.