Symbolic “Entrance” Effects of IoT: Portable Cosmetics Commerce behind the Deep-Link of web.3.0—A Case Study of Social Media Platform Store

With the growing preponderance of social media in marketing, the IT advancement of Web 3.0 tends to reinforce the function of digital platforms upon social media. In following with prosperity of a rapidly thriving E-commerce with massive-scale B2C and B2B electronic platforms in China, the Chinese entrepreneurs are now seeking greater opportunities to combine B2C and B2B to develop a new integrative business model ushering in a brand-new consuming ecology. Through the case study of the mini-program built-in the Chinese social media application, WeChat, this research presents a conceptual framework to examine how the IT infrastructure has specific capabilities in terms of its reinforcement on the deep-link function of social media platforms. The purpose of the research is to examine how technology brings forth an impact on a commercial model. Drawing on the results of qualitative data generated from the analysis of technical documentation, business reports, as well as observations and interviews, the research first presents the logic and innovative business operation that Chinese entrepreneurs use on the basis of social data and personalization to create a new commercial model in practice. It is found that the up-to-the-minute application, “applets,” invented to embed in WeChat, can be privileged in deriving the huge number of existing users from the most powerful Chinese social media. Finally, it analyzes the specific role of applets service in establishing start-up online and offline commerce. It is concluded by inquiring whether this emerging techno-commercial platform could be a successful new retail plus networking e-commerce model in the future.