The social shopping phenomenon: critical aspects and economical advantages for buyers, sellers and Mediators

In the last few years, the social shopping phenomenon has spread across a global scale. This phenomenon has resulted in the formulation of a new business model, which even appeals to those selling companies who were previously not interested or involved in e-commerce. The purposes of the research are several. The first is to conduct a critical analysis of the social shopping phenomenon, from both a selling and a buying point of view. The second objective is to analyse whether this business model represents an actual advantage, either for the seller and the buyer, or just for the mediator, who is represented by the manager of the social shopping website. The social shopping phenomenon represents opportunities for all the subjects involved in the process – that is the buyer, the seller and the mediator. Nevertheless, the social shopping phenomenon currently presents a series of critical aspects, mostly for the buyer, especially if the target is not yet familiar with the concept of e-commerce. The challenges for the mediator mostly consist in elaborating new techniques in order to increase the level of satisfaction on the side of the buyers, even through the adoption of a self-regulation code to be followed by the website manager and the seller.