E-commerce's fast-tracking diffusion and adaptation in developing countries

Abstract

E-commerce is rapidly diffusing in developing regions of the world. Its share is still small even in modern retail, except in the frontrunner China, but it is developing quickly in Asia and Latin America and emerging in Africa. Patterns of diffusion over regions mirror the supermarket revolution but are lagged by several decades. E-commerce firms employ strategies to “fast-track” their spread, responding to challenges of high transaction costs, heterogeneous consumers, and persisting importance of retail small and medium enterprises. Over the past 10–15 years, e-commerce firms in developing regions have fast-tracked their adaptation to these challenges by bundling services as well as partnering with retail SMEs and delivery intermediaries.