Comprehensive Study Notes on Social Commerce, Mobile Commerce, and E-commerce Legalities

Session Overview and Recap

  • Speaker: Peter Ejebanfor.
  • Context: This is the sixth and final meeting of the session for the subject, aimed at rounding up discussions from the past few months.
  • Target Topics: Social commerce, new media, mobile commerce ( \n  ext{m-commerce} ), and the legal, ethical, and social impacts of e-commerce.
  • Recap of Meeting 5 (E-commerce Security):     * Security is no longer a technical technical add-on or just software to buy and install.     * It is a strategic capability essential for forging business partnerships and gaining customer trust.     * Threats are adaptive and evolve on a daily basis, requiring periodic reviews of security plans to address emerging challenges to data assets.     * People as Defense: Human staff are the first line of defense. Robust systems fail without training, refresher programs, and trial activities to ensure staff alertness.

Assessment and Administrative Updates

  • Assessment 2: Completed and marked; feedback has been returned to students for use in future tasks.
  • Assessment 3 (Quiz 2): Completed as of May 10th\text{10th}.
  • Assessment 4 (Presentation/PowerPoint):     * Due date mentioned as June 77 (with a later mention of June 44; students should confirm).     * A sample structure has been provided via Brightspace announcements to guide the elements and layout of the PowerPoint presentation.

Social Commerce and New Media

  • Definition: Social commerce involves leveraging online social networks and relationships to facilitate e-commerce transactions.
  • Key Platforms:     * WeChat: Highly popular in China; used for payments, messaging, document sharing, and group interaction.     * TikTok: Influential among youth for sales and lifestyle product promotion.     * Instagram: Dominated by influencers for fashion, cosmetics, and lifestyle photography.     * Pinterest: Used for artistic and creative ideas.     * YouTube: Focused on video content creation and service demonstrations.
  • Market Reach and Growth:     * Social e-commerce allows users to browse and buy without leaving the app environment.     * Shopify projects that social sales will account for roughly 70%70 \% of online retail by 20252025.     * There are approximately 5,220,000,0005,220,000,000 social media users globally.     * The average person engages with 6.86.8 social media apps per month, including Snapchat, WhatsApp, and others.
  • Diversification Strategy: Businesses should not rely on a single channel. Different content types on different platforms (e.g., short catchy videos on TikTok vs. longer content on YouTube) appeal to different age groups and demographics.
  • Detailed Platform Statistics:     * TikTok: Over 1,000,000,0001,000,000,000 users; dominated by short video formats.     * Instagram: Over 2,000,000,0002,000,000,000 users; uses Reels (the fastest growing format), shopping tags, and shoppable stories.

Case Study: Stormy Steele and TikTok Live

  • Subject: Stormy Steele, founder of Canvas Beauty.
  • Achievement: Used TikTok Live to sell makeup and skincare products.
  • Outcome: Generated $2,000,000\$ 2,000,000 in sales within a few hours.
  • Mechanism of Success:     * Live demonstrations (e.g., trying products on hair).     * Creating a sense of urgency: Offering limited-time deals or discounts (e.g., a $100\$ 100 product sold for $50\$ 50 only during the stream).     * Immediate order placement functionality within the live environment.

Trends and Challenges in Social Commerce

  • Influencer Marketing: Creators build a following (e.g., 1,000,0001,000,000 to 2,000,0002,000,000 followers) and sign ambassador deals with big brands to market products through usage and mentions.
  • Community Building: Engaging with inquiries and complaints on social accounts to build trust. A strong community can defend a brand during a crisis.
  • Challenges:     * Measuring ROI: Difficult to link likes, shares, or views directly to sales. One solution is using specific influencer codes to track which influencer drove a customer to a website.     * Algorithm Volatility: Sponsored reach often diminishes after a week; consistent, active posting is required to stay visible.
  • Crisis Management Anecdote (Nestle):     * Approximately 1010 years ago, Greenpeace International released the "Have a Break" video.     * The video alleged Nestle sourced palm oil from suppliers linked to deforestation, damaging the habitat of orangutans.     * Nestle's initial lack of a social media manager allowed the crisis to escalate before they eventually audited their supply chain and moved toward sustainable sourcing.

Mobile Commerce (M-commerce)

  • Proliferation: Increased use of portable digital assistants, tablets, and smartphones.
  • User Experience (UX): Platforms must be easy to navigate. Complex processes or excessive data requests lead to users abandoning purchases.
  • Australian Post Report Findings:     * 70%70 \% of shoppers are put off by poor delivery communication at checkout.     * Gen Z and Millennials lead monthly mobile shopping activity.     * Usage focuses: Food delivery (Uber Eats, DoorDash), health apps, and fitness/gym related purchases.
  • Core Principles:     * User Generated Content (UGC): Reviews that encourage others to buy.     * Network Effects: Services become stronger as more people join (e.g., Uber's growth reduces the need for external marketing as the app itself becomes the communication tool).
  • Regional Platforms:     * M-Pesa (Kenya).     * Mobamoney (Ghana).     * Bcash (Bangladesh).     * Note: These allow users to manage funds without traditional bank accounts, acting as mobile banks on the go.

Emerging Technologies and Agentic Commerce

  • Super Apps: WeChat is the gold standard, used for social media, payments, and document sharing.
  • Wearables: Smartwatches used for pharmacy payments and phone calls.
  • Crypto Wallets: Increasing use for online payments.
  • Agentic Commerce: Users instruct AI to check products, compare markets, negotiate, and finalize payments.
  • Demographic Attitudes towards AI:     * Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X: Optimistic about AI-driven agentic payments.     * Builders and Baby Boomers: Cautious and less keen on allowing AI to make payments on their behalf.

Legal Frameworks (Australia and Global)

  • Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (Australia):     * Recognizes electronic signatures and contracts as valid.     * Validates digital communication (emails/SMS) in organizational contexts.     * Stipulates document retention rules.     * Limitations: Hard copies are still required for migration/citizenship verification by the Border Force and for physical ID verification at banks. It does not mandate electronic tools to "agree" automatically (friction with Agentic AI).
  • Spam Act 2003:     * Regulates unsolicited commercial electronic messages.     * Requires consent (express or mutual).     * Messages must identify the authorizing organization.     * Must include a functional unsubscribe facility (opt-out processed within 55 business days).     * Penalties: Fines up to $220,000\$ 220,000 for individuals and $1,000,000+\$ 1,000,000 + for organizations (e.g., Woolworths was fined $1,000,000\$ 1,000,000 in 20202020; Optus was fined $504,000\$ 504,000).
  • Online Privacy Bill 2024: Drafted to amend the Privacy Act 19881988; expands Commissioner powers and facilitates information sharing in emergencies.
  • Digital Service Act (EU): Regulates transparency; recently used to fine TikTok and Facebook for transparency breaches regarding data access for researchers.

Ethical Considerations and Social Impacts

  • Data Mining: Is it right to sell customer data? Organizations must be transparent.
  • Dark Patterns: Carefully crafted UIs that trick users into actions they did not intend.
  • Tax Compliance: E-commerce businesses must avoid tax evasion and comply with local tax obligations in countries of operation to avoid being banned.
  • Global Complexity: Since the internet is global and laws are regional, businesses must understand and abide by the specific legal jurisdictions where their products are patronized to avoid financial costs and copyright issues.

Questions & Discussion

  • Social Media Choice: Which social media platform would you pick for a startup and why? How would you measure success (followers vs. actual sales)?
  • Negative Feedback: How should a brand respond to negative comments or memes (e.g., public relations vs. crisis management)?
  • Trends: Which trend (TikTok, Reels, Live Stream, Social Audio) intrigues you most for e-commerce experimentation?
  • Connectivity: How can mobile commerce improve access for rural and underbanked communities?
  • AI Payments: Are you comfortable instructing Agentic AI to make payments on your behalf?