6BDIN004W: Social Media in Retail Sector Analysis, Westminster

This report examines the transformative impact of social media on the retail sector, analyzing how businesses leverage platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest to engage consumers, boost sales, and build brand loyalty. It explores the use of various social media tools by major retailers such as Zara and Walmart, highlighting the benefits of these strategies, including increased brand awareness, improved customer insights, and enhanced online sales. The report also addresses the challenges associated with social media adoption, such as managing content, measuring ROI, and adapting to evolving consumer behaviors. It provides recommendations for overcoming these obstacles and maximizing the effectiveness of social media strategies in the competitive retail landscape, focusing on innovations like user-generated content and understanding audience needs. The report, written from the perspective of an external consultant, offers a comprehensive overview of the role of social media in modern retail, providing valuable insights for businesses seeking to enhance their digital marketing efforts and improve overall performance.

Running Head: BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 0
Business Management
(Student Name)

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Executive Summary
Social media is one of the effective tools that are mostly used by companies to target their
consumers and grow in the market. The retail sector has great use of social media. Most of the
big companies such as Zara, Wal-Mart are using social media as a marketing tool in an effective
manner. They can able to target their consumers in a more effective manner through social media
tools such as Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. The companies also faced certain challenges
while managing social media. Therefore, in this report there will detailed analysis of the use of
social media and challenges faced by them and the manner they can cope up from such a
challenge.

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Literature Review............................................................................................................................4
Social Media and tools used in the Retail Sector............................................................................5
Adoption issues; business drivers, benefits & opportunities, obstacles..........................................6
Adoption issues............................................................................................................................6
Business drivers...........................................................................................................................6
Benefits & Opportunities.............................................................................................................7
Obstacles......................................................................................................................................7
Impact analysis................................................................................................................................7
Innovation issues..........................................................................................................................8
Role of user-generated content....................................................................................................8
Audience Needs...........................................................................................................................8
Conclusion and Recommendations..................................................................................................8
Recommendations........................................................................................................................8
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
The industry of retail has originated itself as frequently developing as well as transmuting in the
past two eras. The globalization as well as progressive expertise developments has also a very
giant influence on the vending scenery. The main reason for such a manner is the extreme
upsurge in the development of social media as well as internet (Fuchs, 2017). The main concept
of using social media has occurred meanwhile the existences of cavern canvases but the internet
through the possessions likely on the whole novel scale. In such decades, social media is
considered as one of the effective prospects for the business to associate with their customers. It
is considered as one of the trending manners to target the consumers in an effective manner
(Allcott and Gentzkow, 2017). In recent, consumers prefer to purchase their products through
virtual media that make them more convenient as well as speedy in an effective manner. The
traditional consumer’s association organization is not adequate for the business to cooperate with
the consumers. Social media has altered the whole picture of the communication that is majorly
done by big companies (Tuten and Solomon, 2017). Social media is the combination of two
words in which media termed as to have advertising as well as communication of the information
with frequencies and publication while the term social represents the communication between
groups of individuals or a communal (Sunstein, 2018).
The operators of social media worldwide are over 1.5 billion. Social media is considered as the
developing upsurge in the vending. The major social media platform that is majorly used by the
individuals or group of individuals is Facebook, Blogger, Twitter as well as Scribd. The social
media systems are the debauched flattering the substructure of the Web as all of the individual
data as well as influences are being combined into the records (Ngai, Tao, and Moon, 2015).
Furthermost of the retail businesses are using the platform of social media to enhance their sales
in an effective manner. They use different tools of social media to attract consumers towards
their products. They are the maximum users of social media in an effective manner. It is
considered that social media make a significant impact on the development of business (Kumar
et al., 2016). It helps in gaining the valuable insight of consumer, increases their brand awareness
as well as loyalty, greater higher converting leads, increase website traffic as well as search
ranking, with rich consumers experiences. It gives a new arena to the business to target their

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customers in an operative manner (Boulianne, 2015). Social media is considered as one of the
influencing tools that are majorly used by the business at a greater level. Portent online stages
that signify the social media have learned a huge power in the year 2004, use of online media is
growing individual, as well as companies, usage them for self-aggrandizement, distribution as
well as conversation of the evidence users that rapid their opinion, complements, criticism as
well as straight communication (Schivinski and Dabrowski, 2016).
In the following part, there will be a detailed analysis of the role of social media in retail sectors
and the impact of social media in such an industry that make the business more successful for the
companies. The challenges faced by companies in using such social media and manner the
companies can resolve and overcome from the challenges.
Literature Review
According to Stephen as an outcome of the technology as well as the internet, the social media
environment has changed at a greater level. The connected social media comprise an established
of Internet-based requests that are constructed to work on the base of technology. According to
Ashley and Tuten the social media is defined as the tools that are used as a abode to run the
applications or any site with complete such podium, communiqué, communication as well as
distribution of evidence amongst the operators is allowable as well as preferred. Social media is
one of the rising concepts of attention. The expression of social networking sites is frequently
cast-off interchangeably with the social media. According to Chang, Yu and Lu the concept of
social media is dissimilar due to the reason it permits the contributors to tie by producing the
profile of individual evidence as well as attractive networks and generations to have access to
that profile. Therefore, according to Zhu and Chen social media is one of the environments in
which the social networking takings place as well as has changed the manner in which the
customers gather the evidence as well as make the decision related to purchasing.
According to Keegan and Rowley Consumers Sentiment towards Marketing (CSM) is one of the
factors that are considered by the scholars to extent how effective the customers will recognize
social media advertising. It is well-defined as one of the concepts that refer to the general feeling
that the customers have towards the marketing as well as a market place. Thus, to create a

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successful marketing campaign through social media, it is essential that consumers should open
to technology.
The online social media is divided into different categories that are explained in below points:
Blogs: they are such kind of websites that are created by the person that is responsible for
retaining the texts which include videos, comments as well as other links to the websites.
Content Communities: the online page is comprised of the software that permits them to make
the individual spaces on the mesh that can be retrieved by the additional operators in order to
interact as well as part the individual content (Alves, Fernandes and Raposo, 2016).
Social Networks: Online pages comprising of the software that allows them to create a personal
space on the web that can be accessed by the other users in order to interact as well as share the
personal contents.
Content Aggregators: the web contacts with the software that stretches the series and choice to
completely change the gratified of the online they wanted to admittance (Hudson et al., 2016).
Moreover, social media has advanced from simply providing the platform for individuals to stay
in touch with their families as well as friends. It is one of the places now, where the consumers
can able to acquire further around their favorites businesses as well as the products they vend.
The dealers, as well as vendors, are using such sites in an effective manner in a manner to reach
out to the maximum number of consumers as well as to provide a new manner to shop.
Social Media and tools used in the Retail Sector
Social media delivers the vendors with the prosperity of the evidence around the customers that
they might never get over the outmoded media. Meanwhile, social media is a two approach of
communication amid the variety as well as the discrete, the retailers can rapidly get an
considerate of which of their products that are preferred by the consumers, what topographies of
the brands the consumers classify with as well as to be related to them (Ioanid and Scarlat,
2017). Socially perception retailer will track the customer’s insights for such type of feedback as
well as adjust their offering to reflect the needs of consumers. The tools that are mostly used by
the retailers are explained in the below points:

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Facebook Ads and Posts
Facebook has consistently dominated the sphere of the retail sector when it comes to direct
online sales. The top retailers use such tool as in their business in an effective manner. Such as
Wal-Mart has put an enormous aggregate of the efforts into emerging their Facebook existence
as well as has comprised the timeline to vitrine how the make has also full-grown overtime. Zara
has also focused on marketing their product on Facebook. Zara showcases their latest collections
on their Facebook that increase their presence in the international market (Jayaram, Manrai and
Manrai, 2015).
Instagram
Instagram holds a much smaller piece of the pie however such platform has immersive visual
users experience as well as an influencers-rich culture that represents the strong affiliate as well
as earned the opportunities of media. Therefore, the leading companies in the retail sector use
such social media tool in their business that makes them competitive in the market. For example,
Zara uses Instagram as a social media tool in their business. It is one of the effective platforms
for their graphic brand image. Zara has 24.3 million supporters on the Instagram of which around
8.5 million followers were further added in the last year. Therefore, the retail experience in
Instagram looks promising for the brands that can benefit a shopping cart (Dutot, Lacalle Galvez
and Versailles, 2016).
Pinterest
When it comes to visual mediums, Pinterest is one of the pioneers. The platform has built its
brand on being the go-to social site for product discovery. Therefore, most of the retail
companies use Pinterest to spread awareness about the product that they deliver. For example,
the leading company Wal-Mart performs to have two Pinterest versions with the intended more
at product philosophies as well as promote the green living. Thus the companies use such a tool
to advertise their product in the market (Keegan and Rowley, 2017).
Twitter

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Most of the retail companies use Twitter as a social media tool to market their product in the
market. It increases their word-to-mouth publicity for the product that increases its product as
well as brand awareness in an effective and efficient manner. For example, Wal-Mart mostly
usages the twitter to pole the queries with the subjects that include sporting, slogan competitions
as well as needs for re-tweets if the operators approve with a convinced announcement (Rialp-
Criado and Rialp-Criado, 2018).
LinkedIn
Most of the retail companies use LinkedIn to search productive human resource from the
international market. They post their requirement on such sites and can able to put the right
person at the right place in an effective manner through social media. Therefore, social media is
one of the excellent places to source the new talent for the supply chain (Gujrati, 2016).
Social Networking
The retail companies also integrated their value chain as well as the entire value system which
includes suppliers, distributors with the help of social media. It helps the companies to
communicate with the suppliers in an effective manner than through the traditional method
(Benthaus, Risius and Beck, 2016).
Adoption issues; business drivers, benefits & opportunities, obstacles
Adoption issues
Most of the retailers are finding challenges in adopting the social media as an advertising
instrument in their business. Some of the small retailers still use traditional marketing method
rather than to adopt social media advertising method due to the fear of loss of consumers if any
wrong steps would be taken by the company.
Business drivers
The business drivers depend on the priorities as well as resources
 Enrich Classifying and Awareness

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Social media is tremendously influential to help products as well as companies to reach out the
consumers through fans as well as followers that extended the network of friends as well as
followers.
 Protect the Reputation
The social media are currently a disaster that can explode when slightest predictable, earlier than
ever beforehand. It is essential to must a occurrence on the social podiums where the consumers,
as well as advocates, are (Rudman and Bruwer, 2016).
 Build Community
Social media is comparable the campfire about that storytelling takes place, thoughts, as well as
ambitions, are collective. It helps in building the community for the business.
 Enhance Customer Service
Most of the businesses have comprised social media to determination the issues of customers’
services and grievances (Zhang and Luo, 2016).
Benefits & Opportunities
The main benefits of using social media business drivers for the companies is that the companies
can able to target a maximum number of consumers for their products in particular period of time
that help them to enhance their market share in an effective and efficient manner.
Moreover, they are able to find a new market for their business that helps and support them to
enhance their overall business in the international market in an effective and efficient manner.
Obstacles
The retail companies face challenges in managing their business in social media at a certain
extent as they are explained in below points:
 The technical glitches created hurdles for the company while using social media or
marketing their product.

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 They face issues in managing the data available as well as the dissemination of the
information to the right individual within the business.
 61% of the companies facing issues in humanizing staff in what manner to use social
media (Guesalaga, 2016).
Impact analysis
The Guesalaga, network has a great impact on the organization as they are explained in below
points:
 It provides the platform of word of mouth publicity. Te people are connecting with the
social media at the global scale as well as casually participate in each other lovers
through online observation. Therefore, it gives an opportunity to the retail companies to
target such consumers in an effective manner.
 The social media is not deprived of their faults however, the companies can use as a
benefit by interactive with the disgruntled customers straight thus captivating the full
benefit of the social media as well as can potential to modification or enhance the
creation they are contributing (Mergel, 2017).
 Social media has had a enormous effect on the corporate, advertising as well as on how
governments involve with their targeted marketplace. Therefore, the usage of social
media to stake as well as involve with others continue to produce so it would be astute for
any commercial to grow as well as contrivance a maintainable social media approach to
take benefit of such quickly altering situation.
 Social Bakes is one of the social media analytics as well as dissemination the business
that delivers the organization service of social media as well as profound statistics
analytics for the thousand products that market on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter,
Facebook, as well as VK.
 However, the company may face issue in tracking the negative or misleading statement
post by the individuals that can harm the goodwill or image of the company in the market
at greater level (Ainin et al., 2015).

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 The undesirable business understanding might stay within a ring of the individual of
networks, stories of bad client service as well a unsatisfactory product can run rapidly
over the network of social media (Alalwan et al., 2017).
Innovation issues
The innovation in Social media also created issues for the companies at a greater level. It
increases hurdles for the companies to manage their business in social media and consume time
in understating such changes while continuing their business on social media. It increases the
platform for the companies however; the hacking issues are also created the biggest issue for the
companies.
Role of user-generated content
User-generated content is one of the contents that is provided by the customer, visitor, client or
any consumers. It includes a photo, videos, hash tag as well as comments that are created by the
users as well as submit to the platform such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, as well as Pinterest.
Therefore, it is one of the main sources through which the companies can gather information
about their consumers in an effective manner. They have also faced certain challenges in
gathering such information from social media. However, UGC has a great role in the retail
sector, they use the platform of social media to gather the information and use as a marketing
tool for their products in an effective and efficient manner (Manosevitch and Tenenboim, 2017).
Audience Needs
In the retail sectors, the company’s uses social media to understand the needs and wants of the
audience. By analysing the comments of the audiences, the company is able to understand the
taste and preference of the consumers according to which they targeted their consumers in an
effective and efficient manner. Just like the digital marketing space, the online audience is also
constantly changing that is required to anise by the companies. Therefore, social media is used as
one of the effective tools to analyse the wants and necessities of the audiences in an operative
and efficient manner (Lachlan et al., 2016).

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Conclusion and Recommendations
Recommendations
From the above analysis and created on the conclusions recognized throughout the sequence of
such study, the subsequent is suggested to directors of numerous businesses in the retail sectors
are:
 Social media advertising is one of the contemporary phenomena however; it has been
proved to be precise operative as well as must be deliberated as a main thespian in
generating consciousness. Therefore, it is suggested that the manager must use the
platform of social media to advantage the retail companies by encouraging the staff of the
company as well as not impartial the advertising section to contribute in the social media
advertising that in turn will concealment more crushed in an effective manner.
 Most of the companies faced issue in managing the activities of social media that
pretentious the overall performance of the company at a greater level. Therefore, it is
required for the company to manage a different team or the department that will handle
and manage the activities of social media in a more effective manner that will give the
new path of success to the company in an effective a well-organized manner.
 One of the main encounters of social media marketing is revolving statistics as well as
evidence that are assumed into approximately unlawful. Therefore it is highly
recommended that the social media should in its place be secondhand as a tracking
system, traffic on an association page that can able to scrutinized associating the courtesy
given to a specific artifact or the movement on the outline folios to the deals of that
creation or any other brand. Moreover, the surveys can also be valuable for such activity
to cope up from such a challenge in an effective as well as efficient manner.
 Social media can also be rummage-sale for structure the image or generosity of the
company. Therefore, it is suggested that the company involve the customers in an
approachable competition that is held on their pages of social media as well as also take
part in self-aggrandizement by uploading the photographs of the events.
 Electronic Word of Mouth is one of the wider zones as a comparison to the word-of-
mouth, a remark rather it is any negative or positive located on the internet is seen by