The Effect of E-Business in Food Production/Agriculture: A Literature Review

Management Research Methods (MRM)
The Effect of E-Business in Food production/Agriculture
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................3
2. Literature Review........................................................................................................................4
E-commerce in agro-food industry..................................................................................................4
Effects of e-commerce on the agriculture logistics.........................................................................5
E-commerce in the agri-food sector................................................................................................6
Effects of e-commerce on agriculture and food..............................................................................6
3. Analysis Section..........................................................................................................................7
Research Questions..........................................................................................................................7
Theories...........................................................................................................................................7
4 Critical analysis of research methodologies...............................................................................10
a) Application of research methodologies in the literature............................................................10
b) Deployment of research methods to contribute to the research................................................11
c). Possibilities of gaps by the research methods in conducting research.....................................12
5. Conclusion.................................................................................................................................14
References......................................................................................................................................16
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1. Introduction
E-commerce is an innovative model to conduct business activities for the growth of an
organisation. It has played a vital role in the growth and development of the retail sector. The
whole research will be based on the use of e-commerce in the agriculture to analyse the effects of
the e-commerce on the agriculture sector (Khan, 2016). The different research paper will be used
in this research to conduct an appropriate literature review on the topic. A research paper which
is used in the literature review has totally based on the myth or reality of the e-commerce in the
agro-food industry. It is essential for the author to use specific research papers, journals, and
literature which are based on the research topic. Another literature is based to analyse the effects
of the e-commerce on the logistics used in the agriculture sector. This research paper will
identify the logistical problems in the agriculture industry and also define the effects of the e-
commerce activities to resolve these problems. The whole research will produce an overall
review of the e-commerce on the agriculture industry which will explain the effects in the
delivery of products, information flow, supply chain management and growth of the farmer by E-
commerce. It is required to keep the equilibrium point in the supply and demands to sustain the
profitability of the trade. The role of e-commerce will briefly explain in the below-given
literature review to analyse its impacts on the industry.
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2. Literature Review
E-commerce in agro-food industry
According to Mupemhi, et. al., (2011), e-commerce is based on the economic infrastructure
which helps to conduct e-business and commercial activities in the geographical area. Internet
connectivity is prior to conducting e-commerce activities which can help the farmers and agro-
business firms. E-business activities support to reduce the sales cost of the of produced
agriculture products which helps to the agro-business firms and farmers to improve their profits
and revenues. Mostly online sales and transactions are made in the e-commerce in which price is
based on the variety of the agriculture products. E-business decreases the operational cost of the
business and improves the profits for the firm. Most of the agro-business firms are using both
online and offline methods for marketing and sales of the products which reduce the operation
cost. It has enhanced the customer assistance element in the sales of the agro products to the
targeted market.
Figure 1: Benefits of E-commerce for Agriculture industry
Source: Author
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Advantageous of E
commerce in
agriculture
Reduced
operational cost
Enhance profits of
agro business firms
and farmers
Reduce selling
price enhnace
customer
satsifaction
Develops better
relation in
customers and
agro business firms
Supports in
product and
service betterment