Developing a Typology of Social Commerce Websites- An Exploratory Study

Social commerce (s-commerce), which combines social media and e-commerce functionalities, is a growing phenomenon and a novel area of research. However, due to its novelty, s-commerce is still in need of more research to... [ view full abstract ]

Social commerce (s-commerce), which combines social media and e-commerce functionalities, is a growing phenomenon and a novel area of research. However, due to its novelty, s-commerce is still in need of more research to understand it, define it, and facilitate this knowledge in developing the theory and practice of digital marketing.
In this paper, we conduct an exploratory content analysis and create a preliminary typology of s-commerce with the aim of bridging a key gap in the literature. This research gap relates to the ambiguity in identifying and delineating the different categories of s-commerce in prior research. Indeed, the lack of agreement of what s-commerce refers to or its different types can lead to confusion and the possibility of inconsistent research outcomes.
Our findings reveal that the term ‘social commerce’ can include a variety of platforms with different orientations, such as online marketplaces, ratings and reviews Websites and user-curated shopping Websites. Additionally, our results uncover a three-cluster typology of s-commerce that indicates a direction toward facilitating higher interactivity and social transparency in s-commerce design.
This paper is expected to provide useful insights to both marketing practitioners and researchers, in terms of helping them understand the scope and boundaries of s-commerce.