Riassunto analitico
The advent of internet and the following digitalization process has led to a radical change of the world connectivity. This disruptive event has led to growing complexity in the economic environment, but at the same time led to a homogenization of purchasing behavior and to an implementation of the integration and interconnection between markets. The electronic retailing was a consequence of the digitalization process, that led to the development of the e-commerce marketing channel dedicated to the online sales. The electronic commerce introduced a completely new distribution approach that combined physical and digital store, also called offline and online channels. It drive companies to the adoption of two innovative solutions the multichannel and omnichannel strategies. The ecommerce format gives the possibility to reach new customer segments, to break down geographical and temporal barrier and to decrease company’s fixed costs. This channel is still in development, the companies’ knowledge about this channel are very limited, many companies cannot exploit previous experiences. Online distribution has become a global trend, characterized with a strong and positive growth rate. Starting from 2020 with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis the e-commerce evolution increased exponentially, due to the social distancing and to the closures imposed to physical shops. The necessity to sell products even if the sore are closed, drive distributors and manufacturers to evaluate and develop a distribution strategy based on internet channel. This Master’s thesis consists of a review of the literature, in order to understand more in depth the e-commerce dynamics, all the criticism arising from the implementation of the strategy and to contextualize the theoretical topics in a specific industrial environment. The theoretical analysis is supported by a case study based on the experience gained by Fox spa di Renzo Bompani &C, an Italian company based in Modena. The objective of the thesis project is to analyse the household appliances market in order to contextualize the research, then have been analyzed more in depth the channel selection process and the e-commerce characteristics, growth trends and customers behavior. Moreover, a specific chapter has been focused on the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and the impact on the e-commerce distribution channel, with a particular attention on the impact on household appliances market. Results of the analysis show that the e-commerce affect positively the company’s turnover, and customers are becoming even more expert and used to performing purchasing process through the online channel. The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has enhanced the opportunities generated by the online store, and have been the core channel through which retailers, distributors and manufacturers sold during the lockdown period.
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