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The effect of the COVID-19 crisis on the perception of digitisation in the purchasing process: customers and retailers perspective

Jiri Dvorak (Faculty of Management, Prague University of Economics and Business, Prague, Czech Republic)
Lenka Komarkova (Faculty of Management, Prague University of Economics and Business, Prague, Czech Republic)
Lukas Stehlik (Faculty of Management, Prague University of Economics and Business, Prague, Czech Republic)

Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies

ISSN: 2053-4604

Article publication date: 8 March 2021

Issue publication date: 9 September 2021

2052

Abstract

Purpose

The market for goods and services is a continually changing environment influenced by many internal and external factors. The majority of economies in the World were deeply hit by the coronavirus epidemic (COVID-19) in the first half of 2020. This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of the role of a crisis, COVID-19 in this case, in moderating the market environment and its ability to accelerate or slow down ongoing processes.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire survey was used to obtain the opinions of 100 customers and 100 local retailers on the digitisation of the shopping process in a medium-sized Czech town. After the first wave of crisis faded away, the respondents reflected on their opinions before, during and after the crisis. The data were processed using linear mixed models respecting repeated measures.

Findings

The crisis seems to have shifted the interest of both groups towards e-commerce but it did not change the disproportion in opinions between them. The interest of customers was significantly higher, even after the crisis.

Research limitations/implications

The credibility of the results is limited mainly by the one-time gathering of the data after the crisis. However, the results indicate a persistent challenge to which small retailers are exposed.

Originality/value

The originality of the results comes from the specific situation brought about by the COVID-19 crisis and the structure of respondents, enabling us to catch an immediate shift of opinions caused by the crisis and to compare the changes in both groups of respondents.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Internal Grant Agency of the University of Economics, Prague, under the grant F6/67/2019.

Citation

Dvorak, J., Komarkova, L. and Stehlik, L. (2021), "The effect of the COVID-19 crisis on the perception of digitisation in the purchasing process: customers and retailers perspective", Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 628-647. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEEE-07-2020-0260

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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