The Adoption of E-commerce and the Competitive Advantage of Carrefour Supermarkets During Covid 19 Pandemic in Kenya

Abstract

The rise of e-commerce has had a significant impact on businesses across all sectors. Organizations are actively seeking change in order to harness the advantages of these digital advances in order to reap the benefits of these shifting technological landscapes. In the course of the last two decades, e-commerce tactics have evolved into instruments of industry rivalry and have come to be used as indicators of the amount of competitive positions held by a certain company within an industry. The overarching purpose of the research was to ascertain the level of participation in e-commerce and the degree to which Carrefour supermarkets in Kenya had a competitive edge over their rivals during the COVID 19 epidemic. The Technology Acceptance Model, the Chaos Theory of Management, and the Resource Dependency Theory served as the foundation for this investigation. The research used a case study methodology, and data gathering was accomplished via the use of an interview guide. Analysis of data that was qualitative in character was carried out with the use of content analysis. The study revealed that Carrefour Limited has adopted e-commerce in various aspects of its business operations. The e-commerce Carrefour APP, Integration of POS systems instore operations, use Artificial intelligence to monitor consumer behaviors. The study also revealed that sales of the supermarket have continued to grow immensely due to their strategic expansion models. Adoption of e-commerce has accelerated this growth and helped increase overall market share despite having a few branch network compared to some of their main competitors. The sales of the company have been growing over time due to increased market share that has been made possible by the adoption of the e-commerce strategy. The study concludes that the adoption of e-commerce has totally reversed the trend and the supermarket has experienced a total transformation on its revenues. The study also concludes that there has been increased number of purchases from mostly customers due to adoption of e-commerce especially for quick and fast needs like basic commodities. According to the findings of the research, it is recommended that the industry create a detailed map identifying which areas of e-commerce are pertinent to their sector and spend extensively in those aspects in order to remain competitive. The research also suggests that management of Carrefour Limited be challenged to develop their product and service offerings on a consistent basis. This recommendation is included in the report. It would be beneficial for Carrefour Limited to invest more resources in product development and research in order to improve the overall quality and variety of their offerings.