Social Commerce: managerial challenges and marketing opportunities. A qualitative study

The increased popularity of social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, has presented opportunities for new business models in the e-commerce industry, which are often referred to as social commerce. Social commerce involves the use of Web 2.0 social media technologies and infrastructure to support online interactions and user contributions to assist in the acquisition of products and services. This paper aims to explore practitioners’ interpretative perspectives on this phenomenon. We draw upon 30 in-depth interviews with European digital marketing specialists and examine their perspectives using content analysis. The findings illustrate the main marketing opportunities and critical aspects of social commerce. Managerial implications and future lines of research are discussed.