Maturing social media analysis

Online social media analytics is a powerful tool to boost e-commerce, according to a new study published in the International Journal of Services Operations and Informatics. Ogunmola Gabriel Ayodeji and Vikas Kumar of the School of Business Studies, at Sharda University, in Greater Noida, India, explain how social media apps and websites are almost ubiquitous in the lives of many people around the world now. There are more active members of some of these services than there are people in even the most populace of nations.

Businesses can instantaneously share information with their customers and clients. But, the greatest benefits to the commercial world can only come if those businesses are fully aware of how their social media presence sits within the wider context and how their customers and future customers are affected and interact with the online presence of that business.

The team explains how there are different phases of the social media analytics process and that this has to become integrated with the companies' online retail strategy. The paper discusses the challenges and the opportunities.

"SMA metrics for customer life-cycle (acquisition to enhancement) are discussed, the team writes. They then make a comparative analysis of different analytical tools to identify which can be used to the best advantage in the online retail environment. The team points out that the tools are still in their infancy, whether free or paid and proprietary. They must be developed further to allow the approach to online retail to mature.