Technology continues to evolve rapidly, especially in the digital, electronic, and mobile areas. Technological innovations have accelerated, facilitated, and optimized many aspects of people’s lives, and the most affected area has been the business sector. E-commerce is the result of applying new technologies to traditional business models, the emergence of which has resulted in many new opportunities, significant improvements, and fundamental changes in many business processes. For example, it is a proven fact that e-commerce has bettered such vital areas for any company as product quality, customer satisfaction, and operational strategy. Consequently, the author of the article, Abdulaziz T. Almaktoom, decided to explore how e-commerce affects the mechanics of the supply chain. Additional goals include better understanding the impact of technology on how companies do business nowadays and providing new perspectives on how to improve their performance.
The writer goes on to describe the positive effects of involving e-commerce in the supply chain. He notes that the implementation of e-commerce significantly reduces the time at all of its stages. Moreover, e-commerce minimizes the possibility of defections. The use of e-commerce in the supply chain also provides direct access to consumers through the online space. Almaktoom concludes that e-commerce eliminates the need for retailers for companies, which reduces costs and makes transactions faster.
Another thing the author notes is that the implementation of e-commerce reduces the harmful effects of uncertainties in the supply chain. Uncertainties have always been a major issue for companies in general and supply chain managers in particular. Almaktoom notes that uncertainties are harmful as they lead to unnecessary expenditures of necessary resources and useless activities. E-commerce provides more flexibility in the supply chain by making coordination more straightforward and efficient and eliminating unwanted and unneeded data. As a result, the harm from uncertainties is minimized, and the company gains a competitive advantage.
Further, the author devotes several paragraphs to identifying business phenomena and concepts related to the article’s main topic. He explains in detail what such things as supply chain, supply chain management, and e-commerce are. Almaktoom also describes how e-commerce improves internal communication between departments and external communication between organizations through the online space and how its mechanics inspire managers to develop new business strategies and models, such as a dual-channel supply chain.
Next, the author proceeds to analyze the paradigm shift that happened in business with the implementation of digital and online technologies. Here, the writer of the article notes that with the advent of e-commerce, consumer payment preferences have moved from cash to credit. Moreover, consumers began to purchase online and use the pre-order function massively. In terms of business organizations, new technologies, primarily e-commerce, have accelerated and improved many processes and made it possible to reduce the impact of errors and non-value-added activities. Almaktoom concludes that e-commerce has increased the confidence of businesspeople in their business model and organizational structure and has made the relationship and interaction between producers and consumers more trusting. The author of the article analyzes two cases to prove his thesis about the positive impact of e-commerce on the behavior of the supply chain. In the discussion section, Almaktoom summarizes data derived from case studies. He also advises companies to develop their own application and website to stay in touch with consumers and partners and remain competitive in the marketplace.
Reference
Almaktoom, A. (2016). Influence of electronic commerce on supply chain behavior. European Journal of Logistics, Purchasing and Supply Chain Management, 4(1), 11-18.