E-commerce and innovation

Source: Image by lyashenko on Freepik

In the last decade, the e-commerce industry has grown tremendously and has continuously incorporated various technological innovations. Technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, and the Internet of Things have made practices that were once impossible to imagine, possible. These technological advancements offer opportunities for the diffusion of innovation and the creation of innovation clusters, providing solutions that respond to the growing need for consumers to be constantly connected. Until recently, physical stores were not concerned with the digital environment. However, during the pandemic, traditional physical stores were not prepared with infrastructure and services to respond instantly and effectively to remote consumer demand. Thus, e-commerce, including the major online platforms, was identified with a reliable distribution system for products and services. In this new digital shopping environment, competition within the traditional retail ecosystem has increased due to the many online stores, large online platforms, and social media, which also function as ‘digital storefronts.’ This raises several concerns, such as the terms of competition between online retailers and physical stores, the charging models of retailers on different platforms, how online stores can avoid parasitism of non-internet shopping in online shopping, how dual pricing and dynamic pricing work, how the quality of the internet affects the growth rate of e-commerce, the identified barriers to domestic and cross-border activity, and the needs created by the growth of e-commerce in the country. Additionally, this growth highlights the need for digital business training in certain areas.