Impact of Digital Technology (E-Commerce) on Business Activity

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Impact of Digital Technology (E-Commerce) on Business Activity
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1RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Chapter 1: Introduction and background
In the era of highly advanced technology, the business activities are significantly
dependent on the technology and its applications. Digital technology refers to all kinds of
electronic applications and equipment, which use the information in the binary form1. The
business world uses various types of digital technology to reduce the operational time and cost
and increase their profitability. Customers have also become tech-savvy and they prefer to get
the solutions faster. E-commerce is one such business category that is highly dependent on the
digital technology. The craze for e-commerce has gone up very high as the retailers as well as the
customers are now favoring the e-commerce sites for retail shopping2. The research study will
focus on the impact of digital technology, particularly the e-commerce technology on the
business activity. As the e-commerce sites operate in the retail industry, the research will focus
on the retail business activity in the UK.
1.1 Research aim
The aim of this research is to study the impact of the e-commerce technology on the business
activities in the UK.
1.2 Background of the research
E-commerce activities have become a quite prominent business activity in the UK in the
recent past. As the UK is one of the leading and developed countries in Europe as well as in the
western world, the economy has provided opportunities business growth. The e-commerce
1 Thomas, M. ed., 2011. Deconstructing digital natives: Young people, technology, and the new literacies. Taylor &
Francis.
2 Lu, Y., Zhao, L. and Wang, B., 2010. From virtual community members to C2C e-commerce buyers: Trust in
virtual communities and its effect on consumers’ purchase intention. Electronic Commerce Research and
Applications, 9(4), pp.346-360.

2RESEARCH PROPOSAL
business in the retail industry has been able to capture a big market due to the convenience
provided to the shoppers. E-commerce has many benefits and with time, the companies are
providing more and more convenience, in terms of returns, refunds and exchange. In 2015, the e-
commerce market in the UK was the third largest in the world3, which came up to second
position in Europe after Norway in 20174. The economy collected 533 billion pounds in 2015
only from the e-commerce sales. At the same time, the sales from B2B sales in retail e-
commerce accounted for around 96.5 billion British pounds and the total e-commerce sales
contributed around 19% of the total business turnover in 2015. As per the record of NASDAQ,
approximately 87% of the internet users in the UK did online shopping, which was highest in the
penetration rate of online shopping in Europe in 20175. The digital technology, such as, the
shopping websites and mobile apps have brought this revolution in the retail business industry in
the UK as well as in the whole world. Thus, going by the revenue numbers of the companies, it
can be inferred that digital technology has played a significant role in changing the shopping
pattern of the customers, which in turn had a great impact on the business activities of the
companies in that industry. Through this research study, the researcher will enlighten the positive
and negative impact of the e-commerce business on the business activities of the retail industry
of the UK.
1.3 Research objectives
The objectives of the research study are:
3 www.statista.com, 2017. E-commerce in the United Kingdom (UK). [online] www.statista.com. Available at:
https://www.statista.com/topics/2333/e-commerce-in-the-united-kingdom/ [Accessed 25 Jun. 2018].
4 Kitonyi, N., 2017. UK Online Shopping and E-Commerce Statistics for 2017. [online] NASDAQ. Available at:
https://www.nasdaq.com/article/uk-online-shopping-and-e-commerce-statistics-for-2017-cm761063 [Accessed 25
Jun. 2018].
5 Kitonyi, N., 2017. UK Online Shopping and E-Commerce Statistics for 2017. [online] NASDAQ. Available at:
https://www.nasdaq.com/article/uk-online-shopping-and-e-commerce-statistics-for-2017-cm761063 [Accessed 25
Jun. 2018].

3RESEARCH PROPOSAL
 To examine the advantages and disadvantages of e-commerce on digital technology
 To find out the growth of e-commerce activities in the UK retail market in the past
 To assess the impact of the e-commerce on digital technology in the business activities in
UK
1.4 Research questions
1. What are pros and cons of digital technology, especially, e-commerce technology?
2. What are the challenges that the e-commerce technology creating for the traditional
businesses?
3. What is the impact of e-commerce on the traditional business activities in the retail
industry of UK?
1.5 Scope of the research
This research study proposes to highlight the pros and cons of one of the most commonly
used digital technologies, that is, e-commerce. This technology has brought a huge revolution in
the field of retail shopping all over the world. It is also seen that, the application of the e-
commerce technology has different impacts on the business and the customers. As the online
shopping market is growing hugely in the UK, as well as, in the world, the business industry is
changing strategies and marketing techniques to sustain in the market as well as expand their
business. This study will identify the areas, where the businesses can make improvements to
capture new consumers as well as retain the existing ones.
1.6 Summary
The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effect of the digital technology of e-commerce
on the business activities in the retail market of the UK. The researcher will explore the pros and