Exploring the Advantages of Using Social Media in the Romanian Retail Sector

Abstract

The emergence of social media led to major changes in the manner in which retailers accomplish their daily profession, particularly since they provide traders with platforms for business development and brand improvement. In spite of this, little is known about their impact and influence on retail businesses. Research on retailers’ perceptions concerning social media is scarce and fragmented, which justifies the current increasing focus of scholars and practitioners on this subject. In this study, a quantitative research design was utilized, aiming to identify the advantages of social media as perceived by retailers in Romania. The findings confirm the hypotheses, acknowledging that Romanian retailers perceive social media as offering great advantages for individuals employed in the retail sector. The practical implications of our research were grouped according to the analyzed aspects, as follows: gathering information, content creation, and customer communication, approached as advantages of adopting social media in retail. This study contributes to the limited literature on social media and the perceived advantages of Romanian retailers, which has implications for further research in this field of knowledge.

Keywords

• social media
• retailer
• customer
• information
• communication
• user-generated content