E-commerce market environment formed by the COVID-19 pandemic – a strategic analysis

Bartłomiej  Hadasik; Jakub  Kubiczek

doi:10.23762/FSO_VOL10_NO3_2

Published : 2022-09-29

Vol. 10 No. 3 (2022)

E-commerce market environment formed by the COVID-19 pandemic – a strategic analysis

Bartłomiej Hadasik

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6604-1970

Jakub Kubiczek

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4599-4814

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23762/FSO_VOL10_NO3_2

Abstract

The article assessed the development potential of e-commerce, considering virtualisation as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The achievement of the assumed goal was made possible by the use of strategic analysis methods. The following groups of factors were used in the identification of factors influencing the conditions for running a business: social, legal, ethical, economic, political and technological (according to the SLEPT concept). Subsequently, two methods of strategic analysis were applied independently of each other – Porter’s Five Forces and TOWS/SWOT, considering the perspective of both the consumer and the entrepreneur. The final stage of the study was to compare the results obtained with the use of both methods. The results of Porter’s Five Forces analysis showed that the e-commerce sector is a restrainedly unattractive area with more negative than positive external factors. However, the TOWS/SWOT analysis showed that the strengths and opportunities of the environment are so strong that, in order to develop the e-commerce sector even further, an aggressive strategy (maxi-maxi) should be implemented. The impact of the pandemic on e-commerce was enormously significant, as both lockdown and fear of contagion led consumers to choose the Internet as their preferred purchasing location. Thus, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic not only expanded the current e-commerce market segments, but also created new ones. The research combined theoretical and practical aspects; therefore, the results of the study can serve as a benchmark for further scientific research, especially at the micro level, which would explain the behaviour of individual consumers when choosing the Internet as a place to shop, as well as how entrepreneurs adapt to the realities of the pandemic.

Keywords:

e-commerce, strategic analysis, market analysis, SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, COVID-19, TOWS/SWOT analysis, Porter’s Five Forces

Details

References

Statistics

Authors

Download files

PDF

Citation rules

Hadasik , B. ., & Kubiczek, J. . (2022). E-commerce market environment formed by the COVID-19 pandemic – a strategic analysis. Forum Scientiae Oeconomia, 10(3), 25–52. https://doi.org/10.23762/FSO_VOL10_NO3_2

Altmetric indicators

Cited by / Share

Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

References

Abbad, M., Abbad, R., Saleh, M. (2011), Limitations of e‐commerce in developing countries: Jordan case, Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, 4(4), 280–291. https://doi.org/10.1108/17537981111190060

Addo, P. C., Jiaming, F., Kulbo, N. B., Liangqiang, L. (2020), COVID-19: fear appeal favoring purchase behavior towards personal protective equipment, The Service Industries Journal, 40(7–8), 471–490. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2020.1751823

Adjust. (2018), How Black Friday and Singles’ Day are reshaping e-commerce globally, Adjust, retrieved from: https://a.storyblok.com/f/47007/x/dc3505478f/how_black_friday_and_singles_dat_are_reshaping_e_commerce_globally.pdf (accessed 29 April 2022)

Aghaunor, L., Fotoh, X. (2006), Factors Affecting Ecommerce adoption in Nigerian Banks. In IT Business Renewal (Issue June 2006).

Al-Mayahi, I., Mansoor, S. P. (2012), UAE E-government: SWOT analysis and TOWS Matrix. 2012 Tenth International Conference on ICT and Knowledge Engineering, 201–204. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICTKE.2012.6408556

Amadeo, K. (2021, December 31), What is Black Friday?, The Balance, retrieved from: https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-black-friday-3305710 (accessed 29 April 2022)

Anic, I.-D., Škare, V., Kursan Milaković, I. (2019), The determinants and effects of online privacy concerns in the context of e-commerce, Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 36, 100868. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elerap.2019.100868

Atkinson, R. D., McKay, A. S. (2007), Digital Prosperity: Understanding the Economic Benefits of the Information Technology Revolution, SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1004516

Becker, B. (2022), Educational ICT use outside school in the European Union: disparities by social origin, immigrant background, and gender, Journal of Children and Media, 16(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/17482798.2021.1902359

Billewar, S. R., Jadhav, K., Sriram, V. P., Arun, Dr. A., Mohd Abdul, S., Gulati, K., Bhasin, D. N. K. K. (2021), The rise of 3D E-Commerce: the online shopping gets real with virtual reality and augmented reality during COVID-19, World Journal of Engineering, 19(2). https://doi.org/10.1108/WJE-06-2021-0338

Boardman, A., Shapiro, D., Vining, A. R. (2004), A Framework for Comprehensive Strategic Analysis, Journal of Strategic Management Education, 1(2), 1–36.

Bredzel-Skowera, K., Turek, T. (2015), The Prospects of E-commerce in Poland, Procedia Computer Science, 65, 1114–1123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2015.09.038

Brem, A., Viardot, E., Nylund, P. A. (2021), Implications of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak for innovation: Which technologies will improve our lives?, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 163, 120451. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120451

Chaffey, D., Hemphill, T., Edmundson-Bird, D. (2019), Digital Business and E-commerce Management (7th ed.), Pearson.

Czaplewski, M. (2016), E-commerce in Poland and Denmark – comparative analysis and development trends, The Business and Management Review, 7(5), 399–403.

Davis, F. D. (1989), Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Information Technology, MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319–340. https://doi.org/10.2307/249008

del Aguila‐Obra, A. R., Padilla‐Meléndez, A. (2006), Organizational factors affecting Internet technology adoption, Internet Research, 16(1), 94–110. https://doi.org/10.1108/10662240610642569

Demont, M., Rutsaert, P. (2017), Restructuring the Vietnamese rice sector: Towards increasing sustainability, Sustainability, 9(2), 325. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9020325

Desson, Z., Weller, E., McMeekin, P., Ammi, M. (2020), An analysis of the policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in France, Belgium, and Canada, Health Policy and Technology, 9(4), 430–446.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hlpt. 2020.09.002

Dobbs, M. E. (2014), Guidelines for applying Porter’s five forces framework: a set of industry analysis templates, Competitiveness Review, 24(1), 32–45. https://doi.org/10.1108/CR-06-2013-0059

dos Santos, V. F., Sabino, L. R., Morais, G. M., Goncalves, C. A. (2017), E-Commerce: A Short History Follow-up on Possible Trends, International Journal of Business Administration, 8(7), 130. https://doi.org/10.5430/ijba.v8n7p130

Duffy, G., Dale, B. G. (2002), E‐commerce processes: a study of criticality, Industrial Management & Data Systems, 102(8), 432–441. https://doi.org/10.1108/02635570210445862

Dutta, P., Suryawanshi, P., Gujarathi, P., Dutta, A. (2019), Managing risk for e-commerce supply chains: an empirical study, IFACPapersOnLine, 52(13), 349–354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ifacol.2019.11.143

Ecommerce Europe (2019), European Ecommerce Report (2019 Edition), retrieved from: https://www.ecommerce-europe.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/European_Ecommerce_report_2019_freeFinal-version.pdf (accessed 30 November 2021)

Ecommerce Foundation. (2019), Global B2C E-Commerce Report 2019.

Ejemeyovwi, J. O., Osabuohien, E. S., Bowale, E. I. K. (2021), ICT adoption, innovation and financial development in a digital world: empirical analysis from Africa, Transnational Corporations Review, 13(1), 16–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/19186444.2020.1851124

Emelyanov, S. G., Vertakova, Y. v., Kryzhanovskaya, O. A., Nepochatykh, O. Y. (2020), The Choice of Strategic Priorities for the Development of the Organization: A Methodological Approach, in: T. Kolmykova E. and V. Kharchenko (Eds.), Digital Future Economic Growth, Social Adaptation, and Technological Perspectives (pp. 123–131), Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39797-5_13

Fisher, D. M., Chrispin, B., Fisher, S. A. (2000), An E-commerce SWOT analysis, Business and Behavioral Sciences Track Section of Deans and Accreditation, Interdisciplinary, and Legal Studies, 7(8), 1.

Gao, X., Shi, X., Guo, H., Liu, Y. (2020), To buy or not buy food online: The impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the adoption of e-commerce in China, PLOS ONE, 15(8), e0237900. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237900

Gefen, D. (2000), E-commerce: the role of familiarity and trust, Omega, 28(6), 725–737. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-0483(00)00021-9

Golicic, S. L., Davis, D. F., McCarthy, T. M., Mentzer, J. T. (2002), The impact of e‐commerce on supply chain relationships, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 32(10), 851–871. https://doi.org/10.1108/09600030210455447

Gollay, I. N., Gollay, А. V., Shindina, T. А., Salimonenko, Е. N., Chuvashova, А. D. (2016), Priority areas of analysis of the external environment of a company-innovator depending on a type of introduced innovations, Polish Journal of Management Studies, 13(2), 58–68. https://doi.org/10.17512/pjms.2016.13.2.06

Gottfried, O., de Clercq, D., Blair, E., Weng, X., Wang, C. (2018), SWOT-AHP-TOWS analysis of private investment behavior in the Chinese biogas sector, Journal of Cleaner Production, 184, 632–647. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.02.173

Gu, S., Ślusarczyk, B., Hajizada, S., Kovalyova, I., Sakhbieva, A. (2021), Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Online Consumer Purchasing Behavior, Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 16(6), 2263-2281. https://doi.org/10.3390/jtaer16060125

Guo, H., Liu, Y., Shi, X., Chen, K. Z. (2021), The role of e-commerce in the urban food system under COVID-19: lessons from China, China Agricultural Economic Review, 13(2), 436–455. https://doi.org/10.1108/CAER-06-2020-0146

Guthrie, C., Fosso-Wamba, S., Arnaud, J. B. (2021), Online consumer resilience during a pandemic: An exploratory study of e-commerce behavior before, during and after a COVID-19 lockdown, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 61, 102570. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102570

Haas, B. (2017, November 12), Chinese shoppers spend a record $25bn in Singles Day splurge, The Guardian, retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/12/chineseshoppers-spend-a-record-25bn-in-singles-daysplurge (accessed 21 November 2021)

Hansen, J. v., Hill, N. C. (1989), Control and Audit of Electronic Data Interchange, MIS Quarterly, 13(4), 403. https://doi.org/10.2307/248724

Hoffman, D. L., Novak, T. P., Schlosser, A. (2000), The Evolution of the Digital Divide: How Gaps in Internet Access May Impact Electronic Commerce, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 5(3), 534. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2000.tb00341.x

Huang, W., Zhou, W., Luo, F. (2020), Coopetition between B2C E-commerce Companies: Price Competition and Logistics Service Cooperation, Journal of Systems Science and Systems Engineering, 29(6), 730–749. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11518-020-5474-0

Jeffcoate, J., Chappell, C., Feindt, S. (2002), Best practice in SME adoption of e‐commerce, Benchmarking An International Journal, 9(2), 122–132. https://doi.org/10.1108/14635770210421791

Jibai, B., Alaaraj, H., Issa, A. (2018), Developing SWOT/ TOWS Strategic Matrix for E-Banking in Lebanon, International Business and Accounting Research Journal, 2(1), 13–22. https://doi.org/10.15294/ibarj.v2i1.27

Jones, K., Leonard, L. N. K. (2007), Consumerto-Consumer Electronic Commerce, Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations, 5(4), 39–54. https://doi.org/10.4018/jeco.2007100103

Karagiannopoulos, G. D., Georgopoulos, N., Nikolopoulos, K. (2005), Fathoming Porter’s five forces model in the internet era, Info, 7(6), 66–76. https://doi.org/10.1108/14636690510628328

Kawasaki, T., Wakashima, H., Shibasaki, R. (2022), The use of e-commerce and the COVID-19 outbreak: A panel data analysis in Japan, Transport Policy, 115, 88–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2021.10.023

Khalid, A., Lee, O., Choi, M., Ahn, J. (2018), The effects of customer satisfaction with e-commerce system, Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology, 96(2), 481–491.

Khullar, K. (2018), Understanding Ecommerce Seasonality and Identifying Niche Based Seasonal Events. Semrush.Com. https://www.semrush.com/blog/understanding-ecommerce-seasonality-identifying-nicheseasonal-events/

Kim, D. J., Ferrin, D. L., Rao, H. R. (2009), Trust and Satisfaction, Two Stepping Stones for Successful E-Commerce Relationships: A Longitudinal Exploration, Information Systems Research, 20(2), 237–257. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.1080.0188

Kowalik, K. (2020), The SWOT-TOWS analysis as a tool of the PDCA cycle in improving the quality of the postal service, Journal of Education, Health and Sport, 10(6), 296–308. https://doi.org/10.12775/jehs.2020.10.06.032

Kubiczek, J., Derej, W. (2021), Financial performance of business in the COVID-19 pandemic conditions – comparative study, Polish Journal of Management Studies, 24(1), 183–201. https://doi.org/10.17512/pjms.2021.24.1.11

Kubiczek, J., Derej, W., Hadasik, B. (2021), Virtualization of Poles’ buying behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic, Academic Review of Business and Economics, 1(1), 31–43. https://doi.org/10.22367/arbe.2021.01.03

Lai, J., Widmar, N. O. (2021), Revisiting the Digital Divide in the COVID‐19 Era, Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 43(1), 458–464. https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13104

Lai, L. S.-L. (2010), Social commerce–e-commerce in social media context, World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, 72(4), 39–44.

Laudon, K. C., Traver, C. G. (2017), E-commerce 2017: Business, technology, society (13th ed.). Pearson.

Lavin, F. (2019, December 12), How Does 12.12 Fit Into Your China Strategy?, Forbes, retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/franklavin/2019/12/12/how-does-1212-fit-into-yourchina-strategy (accessed 4 December 2021)

Lewicki, M. (2012), Instrumenty tworzenia wartości dla klienta w handlu elektronicznym, PhD Dissertation, University of Economics in Poznań.

Liu, R. (2020), Research on the Export Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Cross-border E-commerce: Based on SWOT analysis, Proceedings from the 2020 International Conference on Big Data Economy and Information Management (BDEIM), 11-13 December 2020, Zhengzhou, China, pp. 112–115. https://doi.org/10.1109/BDEIM52318.2020.00035

Mach-Król, M., Hadasik, B. (2021), On a Certain Research Gap in Big Data Mining for Customer Insights, Applied Sciences, 11(15), 6993. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11156993

Mensch, G. (1979), Stalemate in technology: innovations overcome the depression, Ballinger Pub Co. Mullane, J. V., Peters, M. H., Bullington, K. E. (2001), Entrepreneurial firms as suppliers in business‐to‐business e‐commerce, Management Decision, 39(5), 388–393.

Nadeem, A., Abedin, B., Cerpa, N., Chew, E. (2018), Editorial: Digital Transformation & Digital Business Strategy in Electronic Commerce – The Role of Organizational Capabilities, Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 13(2), I–VIII. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-18762018000200101

Namugenyi, C., Nimmagadda, S. L., Reiners, T. (2019), Design of a SWOT analysis model and its evaluation in diverse digital business ecosystem contexts, Procedia Computer Science, 159, 1145–1154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2019.09.283

Nathan, D. (2020), Digitization and the reorganization of GVCs, Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 63(S1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41027-020-00274-x

Ortiz, J., Tajes, M. (2009), The SLEPT aspects of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, International Journal of Business, 14(3), 221.

Ortiz, J. (2010), The global environment through the SLEPT framework, International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 5(4), 475-492. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJBG.2010.035479

Oudan, R. (2010), Strategic Decision-Making In the Emerging Field Of E-commerce, International Journal of Management & Information Systems, 14(2). https://doi.org/10.19030/ijmis.v14i2.826

Pei, Z., Yan, R. (2019), Cooperative behavior and information sharing in the e-commerce age, Industrial Marketing Management, 76, 12–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2018.06.013

Pollák, F., Konečný, M., Ščeulovs, D. (2021), Innovations in the Management of E-Commerce: Analysis of Customer Interactions during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Sustainability, 13(14), 7986. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147986

Pollák, F., Markovic, P., Vachal, J., Vavrek, R. (2022), Analysis of E-Consumer Behavior During the COVID-19 Pandemic, in: H. Gao, J. Y. Kim, W. Hussain, M. Iqbal and Y. Duan (Eds.), Intelligent Processing Practices and Tools for E-Commerce Data, Information, and Knowledge (pp. 95–114), Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78303-7_6

Porter, M. E. (1979), How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy, Harvard Business Review, 57, 137–145.

Porter, M. E. (2008), The five competitive forces that shape strategy, Harvard Business Review, 86(1), 25–40.

Rajamma, R. K., Paswan, A. K., Ganesh, G. (2007), Services purchased at brick and mortar versus online stores, and shopping motivation, Journal of Services Marketing, 21(3), 200–212. https://doi.org/10.1108/08876040710746552

Rajeck, J. (2019, September 17), The biggest ecommerce sales events in Asia: From 9/9 to 12/12, Econsultancy.Com, retrieved from: https://econsultancy.com/ecommerce-salesevents-festivals-asia-alibaba-shopee-flipkart/ (accessed on 29 April 2022)

Ribbink, D., van Riel, A. C. R., Liljander, V., Streukens, S. (2004), Comfort your online customer: quality, trust and loyalty on the internet, Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, 14(6), 446–456. https://doi.org/10.1108/09604520410569784

Roger, E. M. (1983), Diffusion of Innovations, Free Press.

Sánchez-Torres, J. A. (2019), Moderating effect of the digital divide of e-commerce, International Journal of Social Economics, 46(12), 1387–1400. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-11-2018-0622

Sawabini, S. (2001), EDI and the Internet: Can the two generations of e-commerce coexist?, Journal of Business Strategy, 22(1), 41–43. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb040143

Senn, J. A. (2000), The emergence of m-commerce, Computer, 33(12), 148–150. https://doi.org/10.1109/2.889097

She, B., Ramasamy, S. S., Loahavilai, P.-O., Chakpitak, N. (2020), Improving B2B2C strategies through digital technologies for cross-border commerce between Thailand and China, Journal of Southwest Jiaotong University, 55(6). https://doi.org/10.35741/issn.0258-2724.55.6.23

Shen, R. (2020), The Comparative History and Development of E-Commerce in China and the United States, Journal of Mathematical Finance, 10(03), 483–498. https://doi.org/10.4236/jmf.2020.103029

Śmiałowski, T. (2020), Demographic and territorial determinants of the variability of the degree of digital divide, Wiadomości Statystyczne. The Polish Statistician, 65(1), 34–45. https://doi.org/10.5604/01.3001.0013.9027

Statista. (2021), Mobile Retail Commerce Share Worldwide, Statista, retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/806336/mobile-retail-commerce-share-worldwide/ (accessed 1 December 2021)

Straub, D. W. (2003), Social and International Issues, in: Foundations of Net-Enhanced Organizations (pp. 465–502), Wiley.

Tekin, M., İnce, H., Etlioğlu, M., Koyuncuoğlu, Ö., Tekin, E. (2019), A Study About Affecting Factors of Development of E-commerce, in: Proceedings of the International Symposium for Production Research 2018 (pp. 625–642), Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92267-6_52

The Motley Fool. (2018, December 26), The 7 Largest E-Commerce Companies in the World, NASDAQ, retrieved from: https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/7-largest-e-commerce-companies-world-2018-12-26 (accessed 15 December 2021)

Tian, Y., Stewart, C. (2006), History of E-Commerce, in: Encyclopedia of E-Commerce, E-Govern‑ment, and Mobile Commerce (pp. 559–564), IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-59140-799-7.ch090

Tornatzky, L. G., Fleischer, M. (1990), The Process of Technological Innovation, Lexington Books. van Deursen, A., van Dijk, J. (2011), Internet skills and the digital divide, New Media & Society, 13(6), 893–911. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444810386774

Vargas-Hernández, J. G. (2015), Strategies for the adoption of E-commerce, Journal of Global Economics, 03(04). https://doi.org/10.4172/2375-4389.1000157

Wellner, S., Lakotta, J. (2020), Porter’s Five Forces in the German railway industry, Journal of Rail Transport Planning & Management, 14, 100181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrtpm.2020.100181

Xiong, H., Wu, Z., Hou, F., Zhang, J. (2020), Which Firm-specific Characteristics Affect the Market Reaction of Chinese Listed Companies to the COVID-19 Pandemic?, Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, 56(10), 2231–2242. https://doi.org/10.1080/1540496X.2020.1787151

Yadav, K., Sharma, D. (2014), SWOT Analysis of E-Commerce, Advance in Electronic and Electric Engineering, 4(6), 663–668.

Yang, H., Li, J., Wang, J. W., Du, X. (2016), Shortage of logistics for e-commerce in holiday, International Journal of Information Technology and Management, 15(1), 90–98.

Yazdanifard, R., Edres, N. A.-H., Seyedi, A. P. (2011), Security and Privacy Issues as a Potential Risk for Further E-commerce Development. Proceedings from the 2011 International Conference on Information Communication and Management, 16 June 2011, Singapore, pp. 23–27. http://www.ipcsit.com/vol16/5-ICICM2011M008.pdf

Yu, Y., Wang, X., Zhong, R. Y., Huang, G. Q. (2017), E-commerce logistics in supply chain management, Industrial Management & Data Systems, 117(10), 2263–2286. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-09-2016-0398

Zhao, M., Zhou, J., Mu, J. (2021), SWOT Research on the Development of Rural Tourism E-Commerce System under the Background of Big Data Era, Mobile Information Systems, 2021, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/8112747

Zheng, Q., Han, Y., Li, S., Dong, J., Yan, L., Qin, J. (2009), E-commerce Case Analysis, in: Q. Zheng (Ed.), Introduction to E-commerce (pp. 458–517), Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-49645-8_13