From e-commerce to social commerce: A close look at design features
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From e-commerce to social commerce: A close look at design features
Zhao Huang a,⇑, Morad Benyoucef b
a Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, 55 Laurier Avenue East, DMS6142, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1N 6N5
b University of Ottawa, 55 Laurier Avenue East, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1N 6N5
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Available online 31 December 2012
Keywords:
E-commerce
Social commerce
Social media
User-centered design
Web 2.0
a b s t r a c t
E-commerce is undergoing an evolution through the adoption of Web 2.0 capabilities to enhance cus-
tomer participation and achieve greater economic value. This new phenomenon is commonly referred
to as social commerce, however it has not yet been fully understood. In addition to the lack of a stable
and agreed-upon definition, there is little research on social commerce and no significant research ded-
icated to the design of social commerce platforms. This study offers literature review to explain the con-
cept of social commerce, tracks its nascent state-of-the-art, and discusses relevant design features as they
relate to e-commerce and Web 2.0. We propose a new model and a set of principles for guiding social
commerce design. We also apply the model and guidelines to two leading social commerce platforms,
Amazon and Starbucks on Facebook. The findings indicate that, for any social commerce website, it is crit-
ical to achieve a minimum set of social commerce design features. These design features must cover all
the layers of the proposed model, including the individual, conversation, community and commerce
levels.
Ó 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
The rapid development of social media and Web 2.0 has pro-
vided a huge potential to transform e-commerce from a product-
oriented environment to a social and customer-centred one (Wi-
gand et al. 2008). In essence, social media refers to Internet-based
applications built on Web 2.0, while Web 2.0 refers to a concept
as well as a platform for harnessing collective intelligence (Kaplan
and Haenlein 2010). Within this environment, customers have ac-
cess to social knowledge and experiences to support them in better
understanding their online purchase purposes, and in making more
informed and accurate purchase decisions (Dennison et al. 2009).
Meanwhile, online businesses are able to capture customers’
behaviours, which gives them insights into their shopping experi-
ences and expectations, and helps them develop successful busi-
ness strategies (Constantinides and Fountain 2008). Since such
reciprocal advantages have been recognized by business organiza-
tions, e-commerce is undergoing a new evolution by adopting a
variety of Web 2.0 features, functions and capabilities in order to
enhance customer participation (Kim and Srivastava 2007), pro-
mote customer relationships (Liang et al. 2011), and achieve great-
er economic value (Parise and Guinan 2008). This e-commerce
evolution is commonly equated with the birth of social commerce.
In general, social commerce refers to utilizing Web 2.0 in
e-commerce (Kim and Srivastava 2007), particularly core Web
2.0 features such as user-generated content and sharing of content.
The impact of Web 2.0 on e-commerce can be seen in both busi-
ness outcomes and social interaction among consumers. More spe-
cifically, Web 2.0 significantly influences business transactions and
the reliability of business reputation systems (Swamynathan et al.
2008). It can also strengthen business relationships with custom-
ers, increase traffic to company websites, identify new business
opportunities, and support product and brand development (Mich-
aelidou et al. 2011). It may as well enable businesses to provide
high quality products, place them in a better position to predict
market trends and maximize the effectiveness of their marketing
campaigns (Constantinides et al. 2008). For customers, Web 2.0
can affect aspects such as customer control and value creation.
With Web 2.0, customers’ perceptions, preferences and decisions
are not only based on information presented on e-commerce web-
sites, but are also influenced by content generated by people on so-
cial networks (Constantinides and Fountain 2008).
As indicated by Stephen and Toubia (2009), in the e-commerce
environment Web 2.0 shifts market power from companies to cus-
tomers. Furthermore, since their needs are altered by the increasing
requirements for online services and applications, customers are
looking for more social and interactive ways to stimulate engage-
ment. Web 2.0 provides customers with new approaches to interact
with marketers and peer communities at the same time (Constanti-
nides and Fountain 2008). Moreover, the value created by customers
is significantly enhanced through Web 2.0 since the collaborative
1567-4223/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.elerap.2012.12.003
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 613 562 5800x8036.
E-mail addresses: zhuan2@uottawa.ca (Z. Huang), benyoucef@telfer.uottawa.ca
(M. Benyoucef).
Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 12 (2013) 246–259
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Electronic Commerce Research and Applications
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / e c r a
Zhao Huang a,⇑, Morad Benyoucef b
a Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, 55 Laurier Avenue East, DMS6142, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1N 6N5
b University of Ottawa, 55 Laurier Avenue East, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1N 6N5
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Available online 31 December 2012
Keywords:
E-commerce
Social commerce
Social media
User-centered design
Web 2.0
a b s t r a c t
E-commerce is undergoing an evolution through the adoption of Web 2.0 capabilities to enhance cus-
tomer participation and achieve greater economic value. This new phenomenon is commonly referred
to as social commerce, however it has not yet been fully understood. In addition to the lack of a stable
and agreed-upon definition, there is little research on social commerce and no significant research ded-
icated to the design of social commerce platforms. This study offers literature review to explain the con-
cept of social commerce, tracks its nascent state-of-the-art, and discusses relevant design features as they
relate to e-commerce and Web 2.0. We propose a new model and a set of principles for guiding social
commerce design. We also apply the model and guidelines to two leading social commerce platforms,
Amazon and Starbucks on Facebook. The findings indicate that, for any social commerce website, it is crit-
ical to achieve a minimum set of social commerce design features. These design features must cover all
the layers of the proposed model, including the individual, conversation, community and commerce
levels.
Ó 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
The rapid development of social media and Web 2.0 has pro-
vided a huge potential to transform e-commerce from a product-
oriented environment to a social and customer-centred one (Wi-
gand et al. 2008). In essence, social media refers to Internet-based
applications built on Web 2.0, while Web 2.0 refers to a concept
as well as a platform for harnessing collective intelligence (Kaplan
and Haenlein 2010). Within this environment, customers have ac-
cess to social knowledge and experiences to support them in better
understanding their online purchase purposes, and in making more
informed and accurate purchase decisions (Dennison et al. 2009).
Meanwhile, online businesses are able to capture customers’
behaviours, which gives them insights into their shopping experi-
ences and expectations, and helps them develop successful busi-
ness strategies (Constantinides and Fountain 2008). Since such
reciprocal advantages have been recognized by business organiza-
tions, e-commerce is undergoing a new evolution by adopting a
variety of Web 2.0 features, functions and capabilities in order to
enhance customer participation (Kim and Srivastava 2007), pro-
mote customer relationships (Liang et al. 2011), and achieve great-
er economic value (Parise and Guinan 2008). This e-commerce
evolution is commonly equated with the birth of social commerce.
In general, social commerce refers to utilizing Web 2.0 in
e-commerce (Kim and Srivastava 2007), particularly core Web
2.0 features such as user-generated content and sharing of content.
The impact of Web 2.0 on e-commerce can be seen in both busi-
ness outcomes and social interaction among consumers. More spe-
cifically, Web 2.0 significantly influences business transactions and
the reliability of business reputation systems (Swamynathan et al.
2008). It can also strengthen business relationships with custom-
ers, increase traffic to company websites, identify new business
opportunities, and support product and brand development (Mich-
aelidou et al. 2011). It may as well enable businesses to provide
high quality products, place them in a better position to predict
market trends and maximize the effectiveness of their marketing
campaigns (Constantinides et al. 2008). For customers, Web 2.0
can affect aspects such as customer control and value creation.
With Web 2.0, customers’ perceptions, preferences and decisions
are not only based on information presented on e-commerce web-
sites, but are also influenced by content generated by people on so-
cial networks (Constantinides and Fountain 2008).
As indicated by Stephen and Toubia (2009), in the e-commerce
environment Web 2.0 shifts market power from companies to cus-
tomers. Furthermore, since their needs are altered by the increasing
requirements for online services and applications, customers are
looking for more social and interactive ways to stimulate engage-
ment. Web 2.0 provides customers with new approaches to interact
with marketers and peer communities at the same time (Constanti-
nides and Fountain 2008). Moreover, the value created by customers
is significantly enhanced through Web 2.0 since the collaborative
1567-4223/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.elerap.2012.12.003
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 613 562 5800x8036.
E-mail addresses: zhuan2@uottawa.ca (Z. Huang), benyoucef@telfer.uottawa.ca
(M. Benyoucef).
Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 12 (2013) 246–259
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Electronic Commerce Research and Applications
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / e c r a
efforts of networked customers usually lead to better outputs (Kap-
lan and Haenlein 2010). One example is SAP, a major vendor in the
ERP software market, who invites external developers to work to-
gether within an innovative community to solve specific product
problems by providing collective intelligence through blogs and for-
ums. Recently, thousands of e-commerce companies have adopted
or been willing to adopt Web 2.0 to develop social commerce initia-
tives. A report by Lewis et al. (2008) indicates that the growing pop-
ularity of social commerce is reaching 43% per year. Nearly 88% of
businesses expect to expand their investment on social commerce
in the future (Constantinides et al. 2008).
Even though the aforementioned facts point to its rapid devel-
opment and enormous potential, social commerce needs to be ex-
plored further. There are few studies that examine the concept of
social commerce and its applications (Lee et al. 2008, Constanti-
nides et al. 2008, Parise and Guinan 2008) and explain the role of
Web 2.0 in e-commerce development (Wigand et al. 2008, Kim
and Srivastava 2007, Liang et al. 2011), but there is limited focus
on social commerce design issues. Even those rare studies that
investigate social commerce interface design (Najjar 2011, Grange
and Benbasat 2010) do not offer a systematic understanding of so-
cial commerce and its customer-centred design. It can be argued
that this lack of understanding may hinder the development of
effective and efficient social commerce platforms. Hence, our study
primarily investigates the design features required for social com-
merce to fulfill its promise.
The following research question is investigated: what design
features need to be considered in social commerce design? To that
end we conduct an extensive review and classification of the liter-
ature covering the design of e-commerce and Web 2.0. Based on
the findings, we introduce a new model and a set of principles
for social commerce design. We then apply our model to leading
social commerce platforms.
This paper is structured as follows. Section 2 introduces the
concept of social commerce and briefly discusses the state-of-
the-art. This is followed by a comprehensive review of the design
principles as they apply to e-commerce and Web 2.0 in Sections
3 and 4. Section 5 introduces our new model for social commerce
design. In Section 6, an heuristic evaluation of our model is con-
ducted on two social commerce platforms, and Section 7
concludes.
2. Social commerce
2.1. Definitions
Social commerce can be defined as word-of-mouth applied to
e-commerce (Dennison et al. 2009). However, Parise and Guinan
(2008) give a more comprehensive definition where social com-
merce refers to a more social, creative and collaborative approach
used in online marketplaces. In their definition, Web 2.0 tools are
said to be aligned with an emerging trend when users add value
by generating and sharing content. Wigand et al. (2008) capture
the alterations made by social commerce and describe the concept
as applying social media applications to shape business, hence
transforming a market for goods and services into a socially cen-
tred and user-driven marketplace.
Social commerce involves multiple disciplines, including mar-
keting, computer science, sociology and psychology, which may
add to the diversity of definitions. For instance, in marketing, social
commerce is about a noticeable trend in online marketplaces
where businesses leverage social media or Web 2.0 as a direct mar-
keting tool to support customers’ decision making processes and
buying behaviour (Constantinides and Fountain 2008). Focusing
on computer technology, Lee et al. (2008) describe social
commerce as an online mediated application combining Web 2.0
technologies, such as Ajax (Murugesan 2007) and RSS (Wigand
et al. 2008) with interactive platforms, such as social networking
sites and content communities in a commercial environment. With
respect to sociology, social commerce is about utilizing web-based
social communities by e-commerce companies, focusing on the im-
pact of social influence which shapes the interaction among con-
sumers (Kim and Srivastava 2007). Finally, Marsden (2009)
addresses social commerce in terms of the psychology of social
shopping, where people are influenced by salient information cues
from people within a networked community when they shop
online.
Although social commerce has been explained differently, the
abovementioned definitions allow researchers and practitioners
to acquire a broad understanding of its concepts. While these def-
initions imply different scopes for social commerce and e-com-
merce, they suggest that social commerce is an evolution of e-
commerce (Kooser 2008, Curty and Zhang 2011, Wang and Zhang
2012). Based on the above discussion, we define social commerce
as a an Internet-based commercial application, leveraging social
media and Web 2.0 technologies which support social interaction
and user generated content in order to assist consumers in their
decision making and acquisition of products and services within
online marketplaces and communities.
The differences between e-commerce and social commerce can
be highlighted in terms of business goals, customer connection and
system interaction. With regard to business goals, e-commerce fo-
cuses on maximizing efficiency with strategies for sophisticated
searches, one-click buying, specification-driven virtual catalogs
and recommendations based on consumers’ past shopping behav-
iour (Carroll 2008). Social commerce, however, is oriented toward
social goals, such as networking, collaborating and information
sharing, with a secondary focus on shopping (Wang and Zhang
2012). Regarding customer connection, customers usually interact
with e-commerce platforms individually and independently from
other customers, while social commerce involves online communi-
ties that support social connection to enhance conversation be-
tween customers (Kim and Srivastava 2007). As for system
interaction, e-commerce in its classical form almost always pro-
vides one-way browsing, where information from customers is
rarely (if ever) sent back to businesses or other customers. Social
commerce, however, develops more social and interactive ap-
proaches that let customers express themselves and share their
information with other customers as well as with businesses (Par-
ise and Guinan 2008).
2.2. Overview of current research
Social commerce is starting to attract the attention of research-
ers, and a number of studies have been carried out recently, cover-
ing social commerce issues ranging from business applications to
business strategies.
For instance, Serrano and Torres (2010) investigated Web 2.0
applications for Openbravo, an open source ERP solution for small
and medium sized online businesses. The study claims that Open-
bravo ERP enables businesses to integrate a variety of Web 2.0 fea-
tures into their current systems, which significantly improves
business, social and collaborative capabilities. Costa and Tavares
(2011) tried to understand social commerce – they refer to it as so-
cial business – by focusing on an existing industrial project, called
PLAGE, which has the potential to develop a collaborative environ-
ment for social commerce throughout its multiple social platforms.
The findings reveal that having interoperable social platforms im-
proves commerce collaboration, develops trust, and implements
strategic approaches to leverage networked relationships in social
commerce. Michaelidou et al. (2011) investigated the barriers,
Z. Huang, M. Benyoucef / Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 12 (2013) 246–259 247
lan and Haenlein 2010). One example is SAP, a major vendor in the
ERP software market, who invites external developers to work to-
gether within an innovative community to solve specific product
problems by providing collective intelligence through blogs and for-
ums. Recently, thousands of e-commerce companies have adopted
or been willing to adopt Web 2.0 to develop social commerce initia-
tives. A report by Lewis et al. (2008) indicates that the growing pop-
ularity of social commerce is reaching 43% per year. Nearly 88% of
businesses expect to expand their investment on social commerce
in the future (Constantinides et al. 2008).
Even though the aforementioned facts point to its rapid devel-
opment and enormous potential, social commerce needs to be ex-
plored further. There are few studies that examine the concept of
social commerce and its applications (Lee et al. 2008, Constanti-
nides et al. 2008, Parise and Guinan 2008) and explain the role of
Web 2.0 in e-commerce development (Wigand et al. 2008, Kim
and Srivastava 2007, Liang et al. 2011), but there is limited focus
on social commerce design issues. Even those rare studies that
investigate social commerce interface design (Najjar 2011, Grange
and Benbasat 2010) do not offer a systematic understanding of so-
cial commerce and its customer-centred design. It can be argued
that this lack of understanding may hinder the development of
effective and efficient social commerce platforms. Hence, our study
primarily investigates the design features required for social com-
merce to fulfill its promise.
The following research question is investigated: what design
features need to be considered in social commerce design? To that
end we conduct an extensive review and classification of the liter-
ature covering the design of e-commerce and Web 2.0. Based on
the findings, we introduce a new model and a set of principles
for social commerce design. We then apply our model to leading
social commerce platforms.
This paper is structured as follows. Section 2 introduces the
concept of social commerce and briefly discusses the state-of-
the-art. This is followed by a comprehensive review of the design
principles as they apply to e-commerce and Web 2.0 in Sections
3 and 4. Section 5 introduces our new model for social commerce
design. In Section 6, an heuristic evaluation of our model is con-
ducted on two social commerce platforms, and Section 7
concludes.
2. Social commerce
2.1. Definitions
Social commerce can be defined as word-of-mouth applied to
e-commerce (Dennison et al. 2009). However, Parise and Guinan
(2008) give a more comprehensive definition where social com-
merce refers to a more social, creative and collaborative approach
used in online marketplaces. In their definition, Web 2.0 tools are
said to be aligned with an emerging trend when users add value
by generating and sharing content. Wigand et al. (2008) capture
the alterations made by social commerce and describe the concept
as applying social media applications to shape business, hence
transforming a market for goods and services into a socially cen-
tred and user-driven marketplace.
Social commerce involves multiple disciplines, including mar-
keting, computer science, sociology and psychology, which may
add to the diversity of definitions. For instance, in marketing, social
commerce is about a noticeable trend in online marketplaces
where businesses leverage social media or Web 2.0 as a direct mar-
keting tool to support customers’ decision making processes and
buying behaviour (Constantinides and Fountain 2008). Focusing
on computer technology, Lee et al. (2008) describe social
commerce as an online mediated application combining Web 2.0
technologies, such as Ajax (Murugesan 2007) and RSS (Wigand
et al. 2008) with interactive platforms, such as social networking
sites and content communities in a commercial environment. With
respect to sociology, social commerce is about utilizing web-based
social communities by e-commerce companies, focusing on the im-
pact of social influence which shapes the interaction among con-
sumers (Kim and Srivastava 2007). Finally, Marsden (2009)
addresses social commerce in terms of the psychology of social
shopping, where people are influenced by salient information cues
from people within a networked community when they shop
online.
Although social commerce has been explained differently, the
abovementioned definitions allow researchers and practitioners
to acquire a broad understanding of its concepts. While these def-
initions imply different scopes for social commerce and e-com-
merce, they suggest that social commerce is an evolution of e-
commerce (Kooser 2008, Curty and Zhang 2011, Wang and Zhang
2012). Based on the above discussion, we define social commerce
as a an Internet-based commercial application, leveraging social
media and Web 2.0 technologies which support social interaction
and user generated content in order to assist consumers in their
decision making and acquisition of products and services within
online marketplaces and communities.
The differences between e-commerce and social commerce can
be highlighted in terms of business goals, customer connection and
system interaction. With regard to business goals, e-commerce fo-
cuses on maximizing efficiency with strategies for sophisticated
searches, one-click buying, specification-driven virtual catalogs
and recommendations based on consumers’ past shopping behav-
iour (Carroll 2008). Social commerce, however, is oriented toward
social goals, such as networking, collaborating and information
sharing, with a secondary focus on shopping (Wang and Zhang
2012). Regarding customer connection, customers usually interact
with e-commerce platforms individually and independently from
other customers, while social commerce involves online communi-
ties that support social connection to enhance conversation be-
tween customers (Kim and Srivastava 2007). As for system
interaction, e-commerce in its classical form almost always pro-
vides one-way browsing, where information from customers is
rarely (if ever) sent back to businesses or other customers. Social
commerce, however, develops more social and interactive ap-
proaches that let customers express themselves and share their
information with other customers as well as with businesses (Par-
ise and Guinan 2008).
2.2. Overview of current research
Social commerce is starting to attract the attention of research-
ers, and a number of studies have been carried out recently, cover-
ing social commerce issues ranging from business applications to
business strategies.
For instance, Serrano and Torres (2010) investigated Web 2.0
applications for Openbravo, an open source ERP solution for small
and medium sized online businesses. The study claims that Open-
bravo ERP enables businesses to integrate a variety of Web 2.0 fea-
tures into their current systems, which significantly improves
business, social and collaborative capabilities. Costa and Tavares
(2011) tried to understand social commerce – they refer to it as so-
cial business – by focusing on an existing industrial project, called
PLAGE, which has the potential to develop a collaborative environ-
ment for social commerce throughout its multiple social platforms.
The findings reveal that having interoperable social platforms im-
proves commerce collaboration, develops trust, and implements
strategic approaches to leverage networked relationships in social
commerce. Michaelidou et al. (2011) investigated the barriers,
Z. Huang, M. Benyoucef / Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 12 (2013) 246–259 247
usage and perceived benefits of social networking sites in small
and medium enterprises. They found that barriers include the per-
ceived irrelevance of social networking sites within the industry
and the uncertainty of their use to support brand development.
This has not kept small and medium businesses from increasingly
using social networking to attract customers though. The perceived
benefits of using social networking in business include increasing
brand awareness and online communication, as well as improving
customer relationship management. Furthermore, Lee et al. (2008)
found that Web 2.0 applications can largely increase the competi-
tive advantage of small businesses. Indeed, when it comes to
reaching customers with rich content, the authors argue that
Web 2.0 applications give small businesses capabilities similar to
those of large ones.
In addition to exploring its business applications and strategies,
some studies investigate social commerce with regards to user
behaviour, decision-making, and relationship establishment. For
example, Wigand et al. (2008) explored consumer needs for social
commerce. They identified three fundamental needs that motivate
consumer behaviour through Web 2.0 within a commerce context.
These are: the need to be an independent individual; the need to
feel successful and competent; and the need to feel one belongs
and is connected to others. Another empirical study conducted
by Grange and Benbasat (2010) reports on the effects of online so-
cial shopping on user behavioural beliefs (perceived usefulness and
enjoyment). The results of the study show that system functions
such as quick access to products and help option design, such as
the underlying message guiding use are strong predictors of the
individual belief.
A study by Kim and Srivastava (2007) investigated social influ-
ence on e-commerce customers, focusing on their online decision
making. The results show that social influence has a significant im-
pact on customers’ purchase decision making. In order to support
customers in making informed and accurate shopping decisions,
the study suggests using a diversity of applications to increase so-
cial interaction. These applications include product recommenda-
tion to a friend, customer review provision, discussion board, and
writing and rating a review. Finally, Kang and Park-Poaps (2011)
studied the motivational sources and consequences of social shop-
ping. They developed and tested a structural model of social shop-
ping in the context of fashion consumption. The results reveal that
social comparison positively influences many dimensions of social
shopping for fashion. These dimensions include social browsing,
social bonding, opinion showing and power seeking.
3. E-commerce design principles
Given that social commerce is a combination of e-commerce
and Web 2.0 (Constantinides et al. 2008), a first step towards
understanding social commerce design is to separately study the
design literature on e-commerce and Web 2.0, this section being
dedicated to the former. Since the goal of e-commerce design is
to foster customer interaction, support customer decision making
and encourage customers to return (Helander and Khalid 2000),
we investigate e-commerce design from a user’s perspective. As
such, in this section, a number of features necessary for designing
effective e-commerce platforms are reviewed and categorized
mainly from the field of human computer interaction (HCI). These
design features, summarized in Table 1, are usability, information
quality, website quality, service quality and playfulness.
Usability is one of the most important principles of e-commerce
design (Li and Li 2011). According to the International Standards
Organization (1998), usability refers to the effectiveness, efficiency
and satisfaction with which specific users achieve specific goals in
a specific context of use. Since websites serve as the interface to
the e-commerce system, usability studies have largely addressed
e-commerce website design, with a particular focus on ease of
use and user-friendliness. More specifically, ease of use refers to
the degree to which users perceive that using the particular system
can achieve their performance (Kumar et al. 2007). User friendliness
is about the perception of aesthetic design in terms of website
interface (Matera et al. 2002). But many studies use multiple fea-
tures to explain usability-oriented design. For instance, usability
reflects the perceived ease of understanding the structure of a sys-
tem, simplicity of use of the website, the speed of locating an item,
the perceived ease of navigating the website, consistent design for-
mats, and the ability of users to control their movement within the
system (Flavián et al. 2006). Helander and Khalid (2000) describe
the usability dimension in aspects of simplicity; support; accessi-
bility; visibility; reversible action; feedback and personalization.
In their description, simplicity refers to using simple functions;
support is about keeping the customer in control; accessibility
and visibility may be achieved by making objects accessible and
visible; reversible action is to provide undo functions at all times;
feedback is to provide a visible comment mechanism after services,
and personalization allows a user to customize the interface. (See
Fig. 1.)
Information quality is a fundamental design principle in e-com-
merce since it is a source of value to customers (Molla and Licker
2001). It refers to relevance, accuracy, understanding and useful-
ness of information provided by the e-commerce website (Susser
and Ariga 2006). Hasan and Abuelrub (2011) call it content quality,
and claim that it can significantly influence customer attitudes and
interaction with e-commerce. For example, Jaiswal et al. (2010)
show that information quality is a key feature influencing user sat-
isfaction with and loyalty towards e-commerce. Thus, information
quality should be paid much attention by presenting accurate, suf-
ficient and relevant information. Such importance is further ex-
tended by Liu and Arnett (2000), who claim that information
quality closely relates to business profitability, decision quality
and performance, perceived benefits of information systems and
the level of system usage. For example, by improving the accuracy
and timeliness of information exchanged between a business and
its suppliers using electronic data interchange (EDI), a form or
business-to-business e-commerce, the business can obtain signifi-
cant financial returns from inventory holding cost, obsolete inven-
tory cost, transportation cost and premium freight
(Mukhopadhyay et al. 1995). Moreover, users’ perceptions of infor-
mation systems benefits and their acceptance of information sys-
tems are largely determined by whether unique, reliable, and up
to date information can be delivered to meet their needs. With a
high level of quality information, information systems in general,
and e-commerce systems in particular, can be fully used by a wider
range of users (Yang et al. 2005). Accordingly, information quality
in e-commerce should be emphasized on a number of subdesign
elements, including accuracy; timeliness; relevance; flexible infor-
mation presentation; price information; product comparability;
service differentiation and complete product description.
Website quality is defined as the e-commerce system’s perfor-
mance in delivering information and services (Liao et al. 2006). It
has a significant impact on customers’ purchase decision (Liang
and Lai 2002), satisfaction (Chu et al. 2007) and trust (McKnight
et al. 2002). Customers are usually dissatisfied with e-commerce
websites featuring slow access, ineffective error recovery, poor
operation and computation, and unsecured services (Liu and Arnett
2000). Conversely, a high level of website quality design can be
achieved by focusing on appearance, content, functionality, naviga-
tion, and security. Appearance refers to a website’s presentation,
which should rely on a variety of visual design elements, such as
text size, colour, page layout and font to enhance visual attractive-
248 Z. Huang, M. Benyoucef / Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 12 (2013) 246–259
and medium enterprises. They found that barriers include the per-
ceived irrelevance of social networking sites within the industry
and the uncertainty of their use to support brand development.
This has not kept small and medium businesses from increasingly
using social networking to attract customers though. The perceived
benefits of using social networking in business include increasing
brand awareness and online communication, as well as improving
customer relationship management. Furthermore, Lee et al. (2008)
found that Web 2.0 applications can largely increase the competi-
tive advantage of small businesses. Indeed, when it comes to
reaching customers with rich content, the authors argue that
Web 2.0 applications give small businesses capabilities similar to
those of large ones.
In addition to exploring its business applications and strategies,
some studies investigate social commerce with regards to user
behaviour, decision-making, and relationship establishment. For
example, Wigand et al. (2008) explored consumer needs for social
commerce. They identified three fundamental needs that motivate
consumer behaviour through Web 2.0 within a commerce context.
These are: the need to be an independent individual; the need to
feel successful and competent; and the need to feel one belongs
and is connected to others. Another empirical study conducted
by Grange and Benbasat (2010) reports on the effects of online so-
cial shopping on user behavioural beliefs (perceived usefulness and
enjoyment). The results of the study show that system functions
such as quick access to products and help option design, such as
the underlying message guiding use are strong predictors of the
individual belief.
A study by Kim and Srivastava (2007) investigated social influ-
ence on e-commerce customers, focusing on their online decision
making. The results show that social influence has a significant im-
pact on customers’ purchase decision making. In order to support
customers in making informed and accurate shopping decisions,
the study suggests using a diversity of applications to increase so-
cial interaction. These applications include product recommenda-
tion to a friend, customer review provision, discussion board, and
writing and rating a review. Finally, Kang and Park-Poaps (2011)
studied the motivational sources and consequences of social shop-
ping. They developed and tested a structural model of social shop-
ping in the context of fashion consumption. The results reveal that
social comparison positively influences many dimensions of social
shopping for fashion. These dimensions include social browsing,
social bonding, opinion showing and power seeking.
3. E-commerce design principles
Given that social commerce is a combination of e-commerce
and Web 2.0 (Constantinides et al. 2008), a first step towards
understanding social commerce design is to separately study the
design literature on e-commerce and Web 2.0, this section being
dedicated to the former. Since the goal of e-commerce design is
to foster customer interaction, support customer decision making
and encourage customers to return (Helander and Khalid 2000),
we investigate e-commerce design from a user’s perspective. As
such, in this section, a number of features necessary for designing
effective e-commerce platforms are reviewed and categorized
mainly from the field of human computer interaction (HCI). These
design features, summarized in Table 1, are usability, information
quality, website quality, service quality and playfulness.
Usability is one of the most important principles of e-commerce
design (Li and Li 2011). According to the International Standards
Organization (1998), usability refers to the effectiveness, efficiency
and satisfaction with which specific users achieve specific goals in
a specific context of use. Since websites serve as the interface to
the e-commerce system, usability studies have largely addressed
e-commerce website design, with a particular focus on ease of
use and user-friendliness. More specifically, ease of use refers to
the degree to which users perceive that using the particular system
can achieve their performance (Kumar et al. 2007). User friendliness
is about the perception of aesthetic design in terms of website
interface (Matera et al. 2002). But many studies use multiple fea-
tures to explain usability-oriented design. For instance, usability
reflects the perceived ease of understanding the structure of a sys-
tem, simplicity of use of the website, the speed of locating an item,
the perceived ease of navigating the website, consistent design for-
mats, and the ability of users to control their movement within the
system (Flavián et al. 2006). Helander and Khalid (2000) describe
the usability dimension in aspects of simplicity; support; accessi-
bility; visibility; reversible action; feedback and personalization.
In their description, simplicity refers to using simple functions;
support is about keeping the customer in control; accessibility
and visibility may be achieved by making objects accessible and
visible; reversible action is to provide undo functions at all times;
feedback is to provide a visible comment mechanism after services,
and personalization allows a user to customize the interface. (See
Fig. 1.)
Information quality is a fundamental design principle in e-com-
merce since it is a source of value to customers (Molla and Licker
2001). It refers to relevance, accuracy, understanding and useful-
ness of information provided by the e-commerce website (Susser
and Ariga 2006). Hasan and Abuelrub (2011) call it content quality,
and claim that it can significantly influence customer attitudes and
interaction with e-commerce. For example, Jaiswal et al. (2010)
show that information quality is a key feature influencing user sat-
isfaction with and loyalty towards e-commerce. Thus, information
quality should be paid much attention by presenting accurate, suf-
ficient and relevant information. Such importance is further ex-
tended by Liu and Arnett (2000), who claim that information
quality closely relates to business profitability, decision quality
and performance, perceived benefits of information systems and
the level of system usage. For example, by improving the accuracy
and timeliness of information exchanged between a business and
its suppliers using electronic data interchange (EDI), a form or
business-to-business e-commerce, the business can obtain signifi-
cant financial returns from inventory holding cost, obsolete inven-
tory cost, transportation cost and premium freight
(Mukhopadhyay et al. 1995). Moreover, users’ perceptions of infor-
mation systems benefits and their acceptance of information sys-
tems are largely determined by whether unique, reliable, and up
to date information can be delivered to meet their needs. With a
high level of quality information, information systems in general,
and e-commerce systems in particular, can be fully used by a wider
range of users (Yang et al. 2005). Accordingly, information quality
in e-commerce should be emphasized on a number of subdesign
elements, including accuracy; timeliness; relevance; flexible infor-
mation presentation; price information; product comparability;
service differentiation and complete product description.
Website quality is defined as the e-commerce system’s perfor-
mance in delivering information and services (Liao et al. 2006). It
has a significant impact on customers’ purchase decision (Liang
and Lai 2002), satisfaction (Chu et al. 2007) and trust (McKnight
et al. 2002). Customers are usually dissatisfied with e-commerce
websites featuring slow access, ineffective error recovery, poor
operation and computation, and unsecured services (Liu and Arnett
2000). Conversely, a high level of website quality design can be
achieved by focusing on appearance, content, functionality, naviga-
tion, and security. Appearance refers to a website’s presentation,
which should rely on a variety of visual design elements, such as
text size, colour, page layout and font to enhance visual attractive-
248 Z. Huang, M. Benyoucef / Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 12 (2013) 246–259
ness (Lee and Lee 2003). Content provides customers with a valu-
able source of information, which needs to be always current, com-
prehensive and accurate (Hasan and Abuelrub 2011). Functionality
refers to a set of functions and properties that satisfy customers’
needs in their task completion (Stefani and Xenos 2011). Naviga-
tion facilitates site orientation, reinforcing the ability of customers
to ascertain navigational control, so that they can guide their
movement around the site to locate related objects (Tung et al.
2003). Finally, security ensures that customers can interact with
the expected services and accomplish their tasks in a secure
manner at all times (Lee and Kozar 2006).
Service quality is a critical principle in e-commerce design. In
general, it is defined as online support capabilities offered by
e-commerce providers (Wolfinbarger and Gilly 2003). It covers a
wide range of assistance, such as frequently asked questions, order
tracking and complaint management. Not providing effective sup-
port may lead to customers and sales loss (DeLone and McLean
2004). Several studies have attempted to understand service qual-
ity design by exploring its dimensions. Lee and Kozar (2006), for in-
stance, suggest a set of attributes related to service quality design,
which are empathy, reliability and responsiveness. Heim and Field
(2007) propose four specific dimensions in the formation of e-ser-
vice quality. These include website design which allows consumers
to rate their satisfaction with the business process, reliability
which allows consumers to rate the fulfillment practices, security
and privacy that allow consumers to rate their perception of pri-
Table 1
Summary of e-commerce design principles.
Design
principles
Characteristics Business objectives References
Usability Ease of use To make site easy to use and operate Lee and Lee (2003), Kumar et al. (2007), Nielsen (1994), and Hasan and
Abuelrub (2011)
User-friendliness To make a user-friendly website interface Matera et al. (2002)
Simplicity To provide simple structure and functions Nielsen (1994), Flavián et al. (2006), Helander and Khalid (2000
Navigation To support user movement within site Flavián et al. (2006)and Hasan and Abuelrub (2011)
User control To permit user to leave site at all times Flavián et al. (2006) and Nielsen (1994)
Error prevention To prevent user from making errors Nielsen (1994)
Help function To offer help and documentation Nielsen (1994) and Helander and Khalid (2000)
Understandability To make content easy to understand Flavián et al. (2006) and Hasan and Abuelrub (2011)
Accessibility To make site accessible for all users Helander and Khalid (2000)
Speed To make it fast to load items Flavián et al. (2006)
Visibility of system
status
To keep users informed about system Nielsen (1994) and Helander and Khalid (2000)
Match real world To follow real-world conventions Nielsen (1994)
Consistency To keep the same design features through the
site
Nielsen (1994)
Recognition rather than
recall
To make information easy to remember Nielsen (1994)
Aesthetic design To design aesthetic and attractive websites Nielsen (1994)
Personalization To make site customizable Helander and Khalid (2000)
Information
quality
Relevance To provide relevant information Susser and Ariga (2006), Jaiswal et al. (2010), and Liu and Arnett (2000)
Accuracy To provide accurate information Susser and Ariga (2006), Jaiswal et al. (2010), and Liu and Arnett (2000)
Completeness To provide complete information Liu and Arnett (2000)
Update To provide updated information Liu and Arnett (2000) and Hasan and Abuelrub (2011)
Authority To ensure user confidence in information Hasan and Abuelrub (2011)
Objective To provide objective and unbiased
information
Hasan and Abuelrub (2011)
Usefulness To provide useful information Susser and Ariga (2006) and Liu and Arnett (2000)
Sufficiency To provide sufficient information Jaiswal et al. (2010) and Hasan and Abuelrub (2011)
System quality Security To ensure task performance in a secure
manner
Liu and Arnett (2000), and Lee and Kozar (2006)
Access To enable quick access to services Liu and Arnett (2000)
Error recovery To help error recovery Liu and Arnett (2000)
Operation and
computation
To make system and services easy to use and
operate
Liu and Arnett (2000)
Appearance To present visual design elements Lee and Lee (2003) and Robins and Holmes (2008)
Functionality To provide adequate functions Stefani and Xenos (2011)
Payment To provide secure and easy payment methods Liu and Arnett (2000)
Ordering mechanism To process user order and track order status Liu and Arnett (2000)
Content To provide rich content that matches user
expectations
Hasan and Abuelrub (2011)
Service quality Responsiveness To quickly respond to user requirements Liu and Arnett (2000), Lee and Kozar (2006), and Parasuraman et al.
(1994)
Assurance To provide support for user problem solving Liu and Arnett (2000) and Parasuraman et al. (1994)
Empathy To provide caring and attention to users Liu and Arnett (2000), Lee and Kozar (2006), and Parasuraman et al.
(1994)
Following up service To listen to user feedback Liu and Arnett (2000)
Reliability To deliver reliable and trustworthy services Lee and Kozar (2006), Heim and Field (2007), and Parasuraman et al.
(1994)
Playfulness Enjoyment To provide pleasurable experience Jarvenpaa and Todd (1996)
Attractive appearance To provide aesthetic website Liu and Arnett (2000) and Katerattanakul (2002)
Control To give user control Katerattanakul (2002)
Curiosity To motivate user cognitive curiosity Katerattanakul (2002)
Intrinsic interest To match user interests Katerattanakul (2002)
Z. Huang, M. Benyoucef / Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 12 (2013) 246–259 249
able source of information, which needs to be always current, com-
prehensive and accurate (Hasan and Abuelrub 2011). Functionality
refers to a set of functions and properties that satisfy customers’
needs in their task completion (Stefani and Xenos 2011). Naviga-
tion facilitates site orientation, reinforcing the ability of customers
to ascertain navigational control, so that they can guide their
movement around the site to locate related objects (Tung et al.
2003). Finally, security ensures that customers can interact with
the expected services and accomplish their tasks in a secure
manner at all times (Lee and Kozar 2006).
Service quality is a critical principle in e-commerce design. In
general, it is defined as online support capabilities offered by
e-commerce providers (Wolfinbarger and Gilly 2003). It covers a
wide range of assistance, such as frequently asked questions, order
tracking and complaint management. Not providing effective sup-
port may lead to customers and sales loss (DeLone and McLean
2004). Several studies have attempted to understand service qual-
ity design by exploring its dimensions. Lee and Kozar (2006), for in-
stance, suggest a set of attributes related to service quality design,
which are empathy, reliability and responsiveness. Heim and Field
(2007) propose four specific dimensions in the formation of e-ser-
vice quality. These include website design which allows consumers
to rate their satisfaction with the business process, reliability
which allows consumers to rate the fulfillment practices, security
and privacy that allow consumers to rate their perception of pri-
Table 1
Summary of e-commerce design principles.
Design
principles
Characteristics Business objectives References
Usability Ease of use To make site easy to use and operate Lee and Lee (2003), Kumar et al. (2007), Nielsen (1994), and Hasan and
Abuelrub (2011)
User-friendliness To make a user-friendly website interface Matera et al. (2002)
Simplicity To provide simple structure and functions Nielsen (1994), Flavián et al. (2006), Helander and Khalid (2000
Navigation To support user movement within site Flavián et al. (2006)and Hasan and Abuelrub (2011)
User control To permit user to leave site at all times Flavián et al. (2006) and Nielsen (1994)
Error prevention To prevent user from making errors Nielsen (1994)
Help function To offer help and documentation Nielsen (1994) and Helander and Khalid (2000)
Understandability To make content easy to understand Flavián et al. (2006) and Hasan and Abuelrub (2011)
Accessibility To make site accessible for all users Helander and Khalid (2000)
Speed To make it fast to load items Flavián et al. (2006)
Visibility of system
status
To keep users informed about system Nielsen (1994) and Helander and Khalid (2000)
Match real world To follow real-world conventions Nielsen (1994)
Consistency To keep the same design features through the
site
Nielsen (1994)
Recognition rather than
recall
To make information easy to remember Nielsen (1994)
Aesthetic design To design aesthetic and attractive websites Nielsen (1994)
Personalization To make site customizable Helander and Khalid (2000)
Information
quality
Relevance To provide relevant information Susser and Ariga (2006), Jaiswal et al. (2010), and Liu and Arnett (2000)
Accuracy To provide accurate information Susser and Ariga (2006), Jaiswal et al. (2010), and Liu and Arnett (2000)
Completeness To provide complete information Liu and Arnett (2000)
Update To provide updated information Liu and Arnett (2000) and Hasan and Abuelrub (2011)
Authority To ensure user confidence in information Hasan and Abuelrub (2011)
Objective To provide objective and unbiased
information
Hasan and Abuelrub (2011)
Usefulness To provide useful information Susser and Ariga (2006) and Liu and Arnett (2000)
Sufficiency To provide sufficient information Jaiswal et al. (2010) and Hasan and Abuelrub (2011)
System quality Security To ensure task performance in a secure
manner
Liu and Arnett (2000), and Lee and Kozar (2006)
Access To enable quick access to services Liu and Arnett (2000)
Error recovery To help error recovery Liu and Arnett (2000)
Operation and
computation
To make system and services easy to use and
operate
Liu and Arnett (2000)
Appearance To present visual design elements Lee and Lee (2003) and Robins and Holmes (2008)
Functionality To provide adequate functions Stefani and Xenos (2011)
Payment To provide secure and easy payment methods Liu and Arnett (2000)
Ordering mechanism To process user order and track order status Liu and Arnett (2000)
Content To provide rich content that matches user
expectations
Hasan and Abuelrub (2011)
Service quality Responsiveness To quickly respond to user requirements Liu and Arnett (2000), Lee and Kozar (2006), and Parasuraman et al.
(1994)
Assurance To provide support for user problem solving Liu and Arnett (2000) and Parasuraman et al. (1994)
Empathy To provide caring and attention to users Liu and Arnett (2000), Lee and Kozar (2006), and Parasuraman et al.
(1994)
Following up service To listen to user feedback Liu and Arnett (2000)
Reliability To deliver reliable and trustworthy services Lee and Kozar (2006), Heim and Field (2007), and Parasuraman et al.
(1994)
Playfulness Enjoyment To provide pleasurable experience Jarvenpaa and Todd (1996)
Attractive appearance To provide aesthetic website Liu and Arnett (2000) and Katerattanakul (2002)
Control To give user control Katerattanakul (2002)
Curiosity To motivate user cognitive curiosity Katerattanakul (2002)
Intrinsic interest To match user interests Katerattanakul (2002)
Z. Huang, M. Benyoucef / Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 12 (2013) 246–259 249
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