The future of social commerce

Social commerce is a special form of electronic commerce in which customers participate actively in the buying experience. In this respect the word ‘social’ indicates the integration of your social network. Typical means of participation in social commerce are sharing product reviews and recommendations, promoting products within a social network, or even collaborative shopping. We are just about to tap into the widespread possibilities that social commerce offers for e-Commerce and even for traditional brick and mortar businesses. This report represents a starting point in understanding where social commerce is today and where students envision its further development. It comments on the state of the art of social commerce from different perspectives and presents the students’ prespectives on social commerce applications that in their opinion might reshape the future.