E-COMMERCE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

The article is devoted to assessing the state of e-commerce at the global and national level in 2019-2020 during the quarantine period due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A comprehensive study of the main factors that determine the development strategies of e-commerce in conditions of uncertainty and risks in various countries of the world has been carried out. A set of recommendations are also been developed for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as at the level of state and technical regulation on the prospective development of online commerce and e-commerce in a pandemic. The article presents an analysis of the results of a survey of consumers, entrepreneurs engaged in online and offline trade on changes in the structure of consumption of goods and services, the volume of goods turnover in various forms of trade. In particular, the article explores online and offline commerce, market structure, promotion channels and problems with the delivery of goods. A forecast of the development of e-commerce in the context of a pandemic has been drawn up both at the international and national levels. The article analyses consumer preferences regarding online shopping based on various characteristics of goods and services, identifies a list of goods that make up the bulk of online shopping, establishes an increase in the use of social networks, Internet telephony and teleconferences, as well as streaming of videos and films. The authors showed the impact of the pandemic's quarantine conditions on the e-commerce industry and identified trends in changes in various fields of activity. The article contains an analysis of the most relevant international trends that reflect the specifics of the pandemic impact on the change in the dynamics of online sales, a significant fundamental shift in the structure of global demand for online purchases, the development of digital communication tools and remote consumption of goods and services. The authors proposed innovative forms of development of the e-commerce market in the field of online and offline commerce in order to increase sales in various segments of the consumer market. The article accumulates the most important and urgent measures in the direction of the development of e-commerce proposed to businesses, national governments, international and national organizations in response to the challenges of the pandemic shock.