Social Electronic Commerce: Opportunities and Challenges

This reflective journal examines the opportunities and problems associated with social Electronic Commerce (eCommerce). The author explores their personal experiences and analyzes existing literature on the application of social media in modern business. They discuss how social media platforms can be effective tools for communication, brand building, and customer engagement. However, they also highlight the risks of fake news, negative publicity, and cybersecurity threats associated with excessive social media use in eCommerce.

Running head: REFLECTIVE JOURNAL
Reflective Journal
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Reflective Journal
The scope and objective of this essay is to write a reflective journal how to project
research work that is done to investigate up on the opportunities and problem associated with
social Electronic Commerce. In the reflective journal, I will provide my in-depth analysis and
experience that I have gained after investigation of the existing literature related to application of
social Electronic Commerce in modern business.
Being one of the active users of social media platforms including Facebook, WhatsApp,
Instagram and MySpace, I do really believe that these digital websites are an integrated part of
modern human lifestyle. Personally, I do believe that use of the social media platforms is one of
the effective ways to communicate with various people within the Global community. Moreover,
with advancement of digital technology, it is easily possible for every common people to access
the social media websites in order to communicate with people all across the globe. In a given
context, I do believe that the social media platform can be one of the effective media that can be
used by Business organizations to easily communicate with the consumers. Social Electronic
Commerce provides an excellent opportunity to make full use of the social media websites as a
platform for publishing important information related to business plan. The growing popularity
of social media websites, it is easily possible for any people from any corner of the world to
communicate with business stakeholders. They can also access detailed information related
quality of the product or service they are willing to purchase. This I believe is one of the
effective techniques to influence the attitude of the buyer thereby making an impact in the choice
of brand. With high level of presence in the social media, it is easily possible for any brand to
improve upon their popularity level among the target customer groups. Personally, I do feel that
business organizations, business organization which have more presence in the social media

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websites, have better opportunity to connect with the consumer in the market. I also feel that
with the help of virtual community group, it is possible for the group of customers to share
important information related to the quality of the products and service.
Being a customer, I would like to mention that before purchasing any product, I also
check the details and the opinions of people that are published in the social media platforms.
This can help me to make quick decisions about the brand choice. The use of social commerce is
more effective due to the fact that it allows the business organization to understand the
expectation level of the consumer. This can help them to give more preference to the buyer,
while manufacturing product. As they are able to meet up with the expectation level of the
customers, it is possible for them to improve upon the customer satisfaction level. The main idea
of social Electronic Commerce is to empower the opinions of the customers, which is believed to
be one of the effective techniques to improve upon the brand reputation.
With the popularity of social media activities, I think it is easily possible to increase the
usage of social media marketing that can be an efficient technique to influence buying behavior
of the customers. It is important for the ecommerce platforms to link up their website with the
social media platforms, which will allow the customers to share their personal opinion about any
particular products. The can also take the opinion of other customers before they make decisions
of using any particular brand. The examples of online virtual group can be given in this context.
There are various online community groups for electronic products, which are very popular in
the modern days. People can also provide about their personal opinions about the matters related
to features of the product. For a customer like me it may not be opened possible to understand
the exact quality of the product or service through the information that are provided in a

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company's website. However, from the information and opinions that are provided in the social
networking sites a customer can get the practical opinion about the actual quality of the product.
The major opportunity that is associated with the use of social media commerce is due to
the fact that it is easily possible for a company to communicate with a wide group of audience.
The younger generations in the modern days have a strong fascination towards the use of social
media websites. I do strongly believe that instead of the traditional mode of advertisement, the
use of social media platforms can be Highly Effective in building a strong relationship with the
people of the community. As the use of social commerce encourages the companies to improve
upon their product quality, it makes it possible for them to improve upon their customer
satisfaction level.
With the increase of the popularity of ecommerce platforms, customize these days get a
wide range of opportunities to choose their product. Integration of social media websites with
that of the ecommerce platform can improve upon the popularity of the products as all people of
the community involve together in the process of purchasing. It is possible for a buyer to share
the product their purchasing with friends and families, they are also helping in improving the
popularity of the product. This is I believe one of the effective way to make proper use of the
social resources that are available with The E-Commerce websites. Technological support is also
possible with the help of social media websites which I think can help the customers to easily
connect with the company executives. This will enforce the company to act swiftly, in order to
resolve the issue that is faced by the customers.
From the research work, I also have been able to get the idea related to the issues that are
faced by ecommerce website due to the excessive use of social media platforms. One of the

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major issue in this context is I believe about the fact that with excess use of social media there is
an risk of spreading fake news related to features of a product. The negative opinion that is
provided by the customers can seriously harm the reputation of a brand. Due to the fake
information that are provided in the social media platforms, it may not be possible for customers
like me trust upon the product details that are provided in social media websites.
I also believe about the fact that the existing security system in the cyber world is not
enough to secure the sensitive information that are provided by the companies in the social
media websites. Customer loyalty will be highly affected due to the fact that negative opinions
will have a serious effect on the customer decision making process. Hence, I believe the risk of
not able to retain the customers due to negative feedbacks of the social media websites is one of
the major drawbacks of social media marketing.
I do strongly feel after conducting the research work and examining the past literature,
with the help of effective strategy it is possible to make full use of the opportunity that are
offered by social Electronic Commerce. It is also possible to minimize the risks and challenges
that are associated due to misuse of the social media platforms. This can be possible by raising
the level of security in every process of business transaction that is associated with the social
media websites.