E-Commerce: Principles for Effective Decision-making in Selling: Industry Case Study

Abstract

The global retail industry represents $30trn in revenue with e-commerce, an increasingly important segment contributing 28% in revenue share. There are opportunities and limitations in technology advancements. This industry case study utilizes the basic research process in an exploratory design. A working hypothesis is presented, and 3 research questions raised to identify e-commerce selling problems and propose a research-based solution through process analysis and modelling. Generic retail industry data in practice is compared to theoretical data. Customer Relation Management (CRM) is identified as a theoretical selling principle. It is evident in global retail practise with performance measures. The specific gap identified in this case study is the starting point of CRM – identifying customer needs and requirements. This aligns to marketing functional decision roles in relationship building. Recommendations are to enhance research in the global retail industry as well as pre-launch and in-market technological advances. Human resource professionals can apply the CRM principle as theoretically defined and practised based on such reviews.