E-commerce Systems: A Case Study of the E-commerce Strategy of Tesco

Running head: E-COMMERCE SYSTEMS
E-COMMERCE SYSTEMS: A CASE STUDY OF THE E-COMMERCE STRATEGY
OF TESCO
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

E-COMMERCE SYSTEMS1
Introduction
As opined by Saleem et al.1 the advancement or the recent developments in the
spectrum of the technological field had positively affected the contemporary business
enterprises and their business activities. Lin et al.2 are of the viewpoint that the impact of the
different disruptive technologies not only manifests itself in the business models or the
structures which are being used by the contemporary business enterprises but also in the wide
array of the services or the goods offered by them as well. Furthermore, while the different
disruptive technologies had opened up new windows of opportunities for the business
enterprises it had also substantially enhanced the level of business rivalry or competition
faced by them in the markets of their operations3. In this regard, mention needs to be made of
the e-commerce business model which in the present times had gained a substantial amount
of prominence and is being extensively used by the different business enterprises in order to
earn a higher amount of profitability4. However, at the same time it needs to be said that
despite the high propensity shown by the contemporary customers regarding the use of e-
commerce business services it had been seen that very few enterprises have embraced it
completely or are using it partly. This paper intends to analyse the construct of e-commerce
systems in the particular context of the UK retail enterprise Tesco which uses it partly.
1 Saleem, Hussain, M. Khawaja Shaiq Uddin, Syed Habib-ur-Rehman, Samina Saleem, and Ali Muhammad
Aslam. "Strategic Data Driven Approach to Improve Conversion Rates and Sales Performance of E-Commerce
Websites." International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research (IJSER) (2019).
2 Lin, Yong, Jing Luo, Shuqin Cai, Shihua Ma, and Ke Rong. "Exploring the service quality in the e-commerce
context: a triadic view." Industrial Management & Data Systems 116, no. 3 (2016): 388-415.
3 Kasemsap, Kijpokin. "Implementing electronic commerce in global marketing." In Encyclopedia of e-
commerce development, implementation, and management, pp. 591-602. IGI Global, 2016.
4 Pantano, Eleonora, ed. Successful technological integration for competitive advantage in retail settings. IGI
Global, 2015.

E-COMMERCE SYSTEMS2
E-commerce systems and the benefits offered by them
Mena and Bourlakis5 have articulated the viewpoint that the process of electronic
commerce or simply called by the name of e-commerce refers to the act of selling or buying
products or services over the internet or electronic portals of the business enterprises. As
discussed by Falk and Hagsten6, there are various factors which have given rise to the
emergence as well as the popularity gained by this pattern or style of conducting business in
the present times. For example, it had been observed that the lives of the modern individuals
have become much more complicated as well as hectic thereby leaving them very little time
to indulge in activities like going out to shop for groceries or retail products7. More
importantly, the construct of e-commerce affords the opportunity to the customers to order
products or services from the comfort of their homes and also to receive it at their doorsteps.
In addition to these, it is seen that the customers have the opportunity to undertake thorough
market research and also read the reviews given by the existing customers or the past
customers regarding the products or services that they are opting for. Moreover, the
handsome or attractive discounts which are being offered to the customers for undertaking
transactions or buying products through e-commerce is another factor which had given rise to
the e-commerce model of business8. Furthermore, the majority of the business enterprises
offering e-commerce services to the customers have easy return or refund policies which in
turn substantially add to the gratification factor on the part of the customers for using the
same. The resultant effect of this is that the traditional retail outlets or the “brick and the
5 Mena, Carlos, and Michael Bourlakis. "Retail logistics special issue." International Journal of Physical
Distribution & Logistics Management 46, no. 6/7 (2016).
6 Falk, Martin, and Eva Hagsten. "E-commerce trends and impacts across Europe." International Journal of
Production Economics 170 (2015): 357-369.
7 Akter, Shahriar, and Samuel Fosso Wamba. "Big data analytics in E-commerce: a systematic review and
agenda for future research." Electronic Markets 26, no. 2 (2016): 173-194.
8 Yu, Ying, Xin Wang, Ray Y. Zhong, and George Q. Huang. "E-commerce logistics in supply chain
management: Practice perspective." Procedia Cirp 52 (2016): 179-185.

E-COMMERCE SYSTEMS3
mortar” ones registered a growth rate of 4.1% in comparison to the 16.7% growth rate
registered by the e-retail enterprises of UK in the year 20189. This as a matter of fact goes on
to show the popularity as well as the increasing demand for the e-commerce services among
the customers in the nation of UK.
Overview of the business activities of Tesco
Tesco Plc., founded in 1919 by Jack Cohen, is the largest retain enterprise of the
United Kingdom and is presently operational in more than seven different nations of the
world in the continents of Europe and Asia10. The concerned enterprise is reputed for the
plethora of products or services that it offers to the customers starting from groceries, books,
furniture to financial, telecom and other similar services11. As a matter of fact, the retail
enterprise under discussion here is presently the 3rd largest retail enterprise of the world in
terms of gross revenue and the 9th largest one in terms of net revenue12. In addition to these, it
was seen that the annual revenue of the concerned enterprise for 2018 was more than £57,491
million and it around 7000 retail stores operational in seven different nations of the world13.
More importantly, the online or e-commerce portal of the concerned enterprise, namely,
“Tesco Online” had helped in a substantial manner towards the improvement of the financial
prospects of the concerned enterprise over the years14. Having said this, it is seen that despite
the success it had been able to attain through its e-commerce service it is still relying heavily
9 Butler, Sarah. "Tesco And Rivals Turn Against Hypermarkets As Internet Shopping Takes Over". 2019.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/mar/04/online-shopping-changes-hypermarket-strategy.
10 Tesco.com. "Tesco - Supermarkets | Online Groceries, Clubcard & Recipes". 2019. https://www.tesco.com/.
11 Theguardian.com. "E-Commerce | Technology | The Guardian". 2019.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/efinance.
12 Finch, Julia. "Tesco Leads The World Online Growth And Profit". 2019.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2000/jan/20/efinance.personalfinancenews.
13 Tesco.com. "Tesco - Supermarkets | Online Groceries, Clubcard & Recipes". 2019. https://www.tesco.com/.
14 Ecommercenews.eu. "Tesco Launches One-Hour Delivery Service Tesco Now". 2019.
https://ecommercenews.eu/tesco-launches-one-hour-delivery-service-tesco-now/.