The Role of Social Media in Australia's Retail Sector: A Study

This report investigates the use of social media within the Australian retail sector, highlighting its impact on customer engagement, marketing strategies, and overall business growth. It examines the benefits of social media, such as attracting new customers, retaining loyal ones, and facilitating better customer service, while also addressing potential issues like misinformation and poor content management. The report delves into the technological measures that can enhance customer volume through social media platforms, exploring both primary and secondary research questions to assess the findings. It also acknowledges the limitations of social media use, including the challenge of managing public opinion and the risk of negative reviews affecting purchase intentions. Ultimately, the report provides a comprehensive overview of the opportunities and challenges associated with integrating social media into the retail sector in Australia.

Use of Social media in retail sectors
ASSESSMENT 2
NAME OF STUDENT:
NAME OF COLLEGE:
AUTHORS NOTE:
Running head: RETAIL SECTOR AND SOCIAL MEDIA

RETAIL SECTOR AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Project Objective...................................................................................................................................2
Project Scope.........................................................................................................................................2
Literature Review..................................................................................................................................3
Research Questions/Hypothesis............................................................................................................6
Primary Question...................................................................................................................................6
Secondary Questions.............................................................................................................................6
Research Design and Methodology.......................................................................................................7
Qualitative Research..............................................................................................................................7
Quantitative Research...........................................................................................................................8
Research Limitations.............................................................................................................................8
Time Schedule.......................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................11
References...........................................................................................................................................11
Appendix.............................................................................................................................................14
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RETAIL SECTOR AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Introduction
With advancement in technology and internet, the use of social media among people have
become popular worldwide and hence it has become a vital element for businesses including
retail so as to get connected with customers anytime, anywhere to ensure higher brand value
and acceptance. Also in Australia around 99% people are active internet users and about
50% use social media at least once every day, so in this report a comprehensive study is made
on use of social media in retail sector of Australia to generate a deeper insight on social
media penetration and impacts.
Project Objective
The objective of this research project is to investigate and study the various perspectives and
use of social media in retail sectors of Australia by examining different literature works on
the provided topic. Another objective of this project is to understand the integration of social
media in business activities of retail sector and recognise their impact under practical
implementation so as to explore various reasons related to use and application of social media
in retail sector.
Project Scope
The scope of this project is to understand usage of social media in retail business across
Australia and their influence over the sector as integration of social media sites within the
business process during the age of technological advancement has great scope due to
extended demand for social media use in business. Hence use of social media in retail sector
particularly helps to helps to boost customer involvement with business activities thereby
helping to add more real time customer value propositions. Moreover the scope of impact of
social media in retail is huge as it extends various growth opportunities for business by
building loyal customer connections which even helps to proactively recognise new trends
and changes thus leveraging advantage of early movers response. Thus, use of social media in
retail sector of Australia extends huge scope and benefits as well as some limitations related
to appropriate use of social media and needs adequate administration because of large
customer influence over social media.
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Literature Review
With use of social media in retail sectors both customers and business get benefitted as social
media sites provides more empowerment of informed purchases to consumers on one hand
while on other hand empowers businesses by giving them more exposure and connections
with their customers which helps them earn loyalty and positive word of mouth
communications by their loyal customers over their networks or groups in social media. Thus
social media helps firms including retail business sectors enjoy benefits through its use by
attracting new prospective customers as well as retaining loyal customers. These days, use of
social media platforms like Facebook in business has grown popularity as more people
nowadays are active on social networks and spend more time over social media sites. Due to
ever growing use of social media among users retail businesses have explored these platforms
and now Facebook has largely become a popular tool for promotions because they permit
interactions that goes beyond personal one to one communication and connects many people
with many to many conversations (Ainin et al. 2015). As such witnessing this rapid shift in
consumer behaviour and choices retail sectors in Australia have started using social media in
business to give their customers more stronger voice than earlier days. Also according to
Husain, Ghufran and Chaubey (2016) retail business can use Facebook for selling, marketing
and advertisement of their products at low costs and so are good platforms for product and
brand promotions which can be done through sharing of update information on new arrivals
or sharing of product reviews etc. Further as Facebook can be used as social media platform
without additional resources so these can be conveniently utilised by more retail businesses
including small business owners to get connected with customers at minimal cost and low
requirement of IT skills. Apart from allowing better interactions with customers, use of social
media in retail sector workplaces can also help to increase better customer service support
and internal communication, collaborations due to power of internet that helps firms operate
anytime anywhere. Hence retail firms can use social media like Facebook for conducting
numerous activities like communication, marketing, advertising, innovation, customer
support as well as for problem solving with use of information technology.
Further as opined by Srinivasan, Lilien and Rangaswamy (2002) in contrast to previous time,
nowadays businesses focus on building customer relationship during various sales and
marketing activities so rather than depending on mass promotions and advertisements to
communicate mass messages retail firms use social media platforms to leverage customer
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involvement and improve their experiences with consistent notifications of product/ service
information. These tactics helps retail firms gain new customer and witness rise of sales
because of long term customer value that business extends to consumers. Also as more
customers use social media information and reviews on these networks to decide new
purchases and decisions so social media has successfully emerged as significant technology
to drive competition with active response to customers. Further social media developments
helps retail firms create more new services and innovate through improvement of technical
knowledge, resources and capacities thus extending market sensing activities, patterns and
processes that can be used to build competitive advantage through defining technological
opportunism (VanMeter, Grisaffe and Chonko 2015). Example, social media platforms like
Facebook, Instagram etc can be used to improve capabilities of retail firms related to their
technology sensing abilities to gain better know-how and interpretations about new trends,
emerging consumer preferences etc with regular scanning of customer activities like reviews,
comments, searches etc to develop new opportunities and fulfil emerging customer
expectations through realisation and evaluation of innovations (Chen et al. 2013). Moreover,
social media can be used by retail firms to respond actively to customers as these platforms
are enabled with technology response capabilities that helps firms respond quickly to
environment changes. Example, social media’s technology response ability can be used by
retail firms to restructure their business approaches or tactics as part of business response so
as to explore more opportunities of growth or avert imposed threats (He et al. 2015). Social
media enables retail firms exploit customer profiling capabilities thus providing vast
information which can be used appropriately to target new marketing tactics to particular
customer choices thereby giving firms enormous potential for merchandising due to rise of
customers which even helps to drive business revenues and growth.
Nonetheless, as stated by Curtis et al. (2010) social media platforms can be used
advantageously to connect with mass number of people in public to extend better public
relations because of their huge acceptance. Also as social media promotes consumer
influences with familiar response among user groups so it builds trust element among
customers through known reviews and influences from others feedback on network which
largely impacts purchase decisions and behaviours of customers. Often reviews from social
groups and networks have larger impact on customers perceptions in comparison to messages
being promoted by marketers and hence many customers rely on social groups comments
before initiating purchases as they believe such reviews minimise risks of purchasing new or
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unfamiliar product (Rapp et al. 2013). Hence, several retail firms monitor reviews of early
adopters to build public relations and acceptance of new product or innovation in services
over social media platforms as customers find social media feedbacks more reliable. As such
more stronger the social media presence of retail businesses the better is the reliability and
trust gained from their customers (Pantano and Gandini 2018). These days several retail firms
integrate with social media plugins to extend their presence over social media and improve
trust as well as purchase behaviours of customers.
Further as stated by Ramanathan, Subramanian and Parrott (2017) social media features can
be integrated with retail firms business activities easily at affordable initial costs so this
advantage has prompted more retailers to use social media platforms and gain more benefits
in comparison to small initial investments. Also social media allows firms to actively update
new information related to product or descriptions or other media notifications with less
efforts so these mediums are more conveniently used as it allows more flexibility and larger
ease along with keeping consumers regularly informed about new trends, fashion alert or
news (Edosomwan et al. 2011). Also social media has features that helps retail firms
interpret market patterns and forecast changes which helps them not only predict purchase
intentions of customers but even respond to them timely to build and administer better
customer relationships.
Though social media offers various benefits and positive aspects for retail firms but there also
exist some gaps and problems mainly due to lack of effective use of social media. Examples
of lack of effectiveness related to social media use are mainly related to trust and reliability of
virtual information where fake review or comments on social media that are shared can
greatly hamper reputation and brand identity of firms. As most of retail firms have limited
control on public opinion and responses so any kind of negative or unauthentic reviews can
hamper product sales as several customers often tend to get deeply influenced from public
opinions and group influences over social media networks that can negatively affect purchase
intentions. Moreover, as there is intense competition within retail sector in an effort to attract
and retain more customers so often several retail firms do not consider adverse consequences
of social media use in business and thus maintain poor governance of social media contents.
Due to such poor management of contents often many retail firms encounter serious
difficulties to address or respond to unauthentic or false comments on social media (Wu et al.
2015). Further poor social media content management can lead to difficulty in replying to
customer queries which can aggravate customer actions or create misunderstanding. Also
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some firms in order to lower advertisement costs outsource social media activities and
administration to third parties who control social media contents and these third parties
sometimes add irrelevant plugins and spams in social media pages of firms which makes
customers lose their interest as whenever they visit media pages they could be directed to
unnecessary plugins and these problems can lower visitor traffic and volume thus impacting
sales of retail firms.
Further along with numerous advantage and problems some gaps that have been realised in
literatures that exist on social media use and applications in retail sectors include gap related
to appropriateness of recommender system features of social media sites which fail to offer
adequate efficaciousness in advanced user tracking procedure. As these systems often face
overload information issues due to enormous information available over internet so social
media pages of retail firms need to integrate additional technology prototype that can deal
with scalability of social graph issues to fulfil capacity of scaling demand of users activities
over social pages to address these gaps.
Research Questions/Hypothesis
The research project included analysis of both primary and secondary research questions in
order to deeply examine and assess the findings and accordingly evaluate the outcomes
inferred from research data.
Primary Question
Q1. Why firms in retail sectors should use and integrate social media?
Secondary Questions
Q2. What are the problems or issues that can be likely linked with use of social media in
retail sectors of Australia?
Q3. What are the technological measures and approaches that can be utilised to enhance
volume of target customers through use of social media platforms?
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Research Design and Methodology
The research design for this project included both qualitative and quantitative research
methodologies as these helped to properly outline the research objectives and document the
findings of research. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used to conduct
the research.
Qualitative Research
As stated by Tobi and Kampen (2018) the qualitative research procedure relies on views of
respondents and research initiates with selection and description of questions to be asked in
interview with respondents. These interview questions are then arranged in questionnaires as
per research design to include details of sample size. After this response of participants are
collected which is followed by investigation and evaluation of data or responses collected.
These data are thoroughly examined to infer appropriate results and findings after which
results are concluded based on discussion of theories.
Reliability and Validity: according to Van and Struwig (2017) the appropriateness and
preciseness of source of information builds upon the accuracy of data, its reliability and
validity as qualitative research depends on responses gathered from respondents, hence they
should not be forced or impressed to give responses.
Sampling: for this research random sampling was conducted where everyone included in
sample were given equal chances during selection so that selected sample size would
represent impartial population.
Sample size: 100 participants consisting of retail customers were selected as sample size for
research where each were randomly chosen.
Data collection: a qualitative research method includes different kinds of methods for
collection of data that includes interview, observation and focus group. In case of interview
the information is gathered through direct correspondence with participants in 1-on-1 basis
whereas in case of focus groups, the data is gathered under group settings. While in case of
observations the actions and conduct of participants is noted to gather data during field
settings (Van and Struwig 2017). Amongst different data collection methods, the interview
method was used for this research where semi structured questions were asked to participants
to examine and analyse opinions, encounters and perspectives so as to examine their outlook
on use of social media in retail firms.
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Quantitative Research
Numerical data are gathered during quantitative research with help of survey and
questionnaires where a specified process is maintained to conduct the research. The
procedure of research initiates with composition of problem related with research which is
followed by literature review for substantiation (Haneef 2013). Then field work is conducted
for research to collect the data after which the gathered information is evaluated to derive
appropriate results. Rating scales are applied as research instruments and authenticity and
credibility of numerical data depends on accuracy of figures.
Research instrument: questionnaires were used as research instruments during this research
where questions were represented in logical order to fulfil aim of research as well as to make
it appealing for participants, so as to get more number of completed responses in
questionnaires.
Reliability and validity: a rational approach was used during the research procedure and for
collection of responses during implementation of research design so as to maintain reliability
and validity of information. Also numerical responses collected were kept exact to maintain
accuracy and reliability.
Sampling and sample size: random events were selected for random sampling method which
used probability technique for research. Also sample size for research was kept to 100
respondents.
Data collection method: the data was gathered through structured interview and questionnaire
was created with pilot test.
Research Limitations
Some limitation that were likely included lack of adequate time period to conduct an
elaborate and exhaustive research study which influenced research activity. Also biasness of
response and cost included for additional resources were other limitations.
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Time Schedule
Activities Starting Date Ending Date Duration
Selection of topic
for research
Dec 2018 Jan 2019 1 month
Assimilation of
resource for
collection of data
Feb 2019 March 2019 1 month
Literature review April 2019 June 2019 2 months
Classification of
gaps
June 2019 Aug 2019 2 months
Outlining research
methodology and
design
Sep 2019 Oct 2019 1 month
Compilation of
data
Nov 2019 Jan 2020 2 months
Data
interpretation
Feb 2020 March 2020 1 month
Recommendations April 2020 May 2020 1 month
Documentation of
Report and
submission
June 2020 July 2020 1 month
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Gantt chart
Activities Dec
2018-
Jan
2019
Feb-
March
2019
April-
June
2019
June-
Aug
2019
Sep-
Oct
2019
Nov-
Jan
2020
Feb-
March
2020
April-
May
2020
June-
July
2020
Selection of topic
for research
Assimilation of
resource for
collection of data
Literature review
Classification of
gaps
Outlining research
methodology and
design
Compilation of
data
Data
interpretation
Recommendations
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Documentation of
Report and
submission
Conclusion
Thus from this study it can be inferred that use and application of social media in retail firms
is changing the business landscape of retailing industry as well as are influencing their
strategic outlook for customers with new approaches being sought for to enhance more
customer involvement with integration of social media platforms. Also use of these social
platforms build better trust and confidence in customers thus stimulating their purchase
intentions positively. Although social media has certain limitations related to their effective
use and adaptation but these concerns can be addressed with appropriate application and
integration of technology measures, standards and resources, so that retail firms at large could
benefit through targeting specific markets, consumers with social media to create more
business profits and growth. Also social media can help retail firms add value to customers
through enhanced connections, interactions and responses to generate better outcomes and set
competitive benchmark and therefore extensive researches are being made in this field to
interpret and explore advanced opportunities to use social media in retail.
References
Ainin, S., Parveen, F., Moghavvemi, S., Jaafar, N. I., & Nor Liyana, M. S. (2015). Factors
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Chen, Y.Y., Lai, F.W., Goh, K.N. and Daud, S.C., (2013). The effect of integrating social
plugins into e-commerce website: a study on online consumer behavior. In Proceedings of
the 7th international conference on ubiquitous information management and communication
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Feb 2019
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Curtis, L., Edwards, C., Fraser, K.L., Gudelsky, S., Holmquist, J., Thornton, K. and Sweetser,
K.D., (2010). Adoption of social media for public relations by non-profit
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media effects across seller, retailer, and consumer interactions. Journal of the Academy of
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Srinivasan, R., Lilien, G.L. and Rangaswamy, A., (2002). Technological opportunism and
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VanMeter, R. A., Grisaffe, D. B., and Chonko, L. B. (2015). Of "likes" and "pins": The
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Wu, H., Shen, J., Tian, X., Li, Y., Akula, V., Yan, G., and Tao, R. (2015). Gaining
competitive intelligence from social media data. Industrial Management & Data
Systems, [Online] 115(9), 1622-1636. Available: doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-03-
2015-0098 Accessed on 4 Feb 2019
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Appendix
Appendix 1: Likelihood of Purchase intentions of customers following on social media
Source: sproutsocial.com (2018)
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Appendix 2: Social media penetration country wise
Source: wearesocial.com (2017)
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