Factors Affecting Inditex Online Sales Market in Russia - Dissertation Example

Businesses have become hugely competitive in the current environment of rapid globalization and fast advancing technology. To compete and to maintain its leverage in the market, a business needs to become more flexible and swiftly adapt to the changing technologies and work environments. Technology, especially the Internet, has redefined communication providing huge scope of expansion for businesses and reach customers which were hitherto, inaccessible to the businesses. Gottardi et al. (2004) assert that idea of trading on the Internet has generated great interest across businesses.

With low-cost entry and user-friendly applications, the Internet has greatly facilitated the exchange of information and considerably reduced the barrier of time and space across the various stakeholders of the businesses. Consequently, the online sales market of goods and services has been considerably expanded. The research would, therefore, be examining the factors that affect the online sales market of Inditex in Russia. It would use literature on the topic to explore and identify factors that influence the online buying behavior of customers, benefiting the various stakeholders in a myriad of ways.

Smith and Chaffey (2002) strongly affirm that e-marketing has emerged as a powerful business strategy to widen the scope of business and exploit new opportunities to maintain a competitive advantage in tough market conditions. Technology has provided the common man with the most potent tool that impacts the strategic decisions of businesses. Digital technology is increasingly impacting the performance outcome of public and private businesses. IT skills, therefore, need to become an integral part of business strategy.

Balutis (2009) emphasizes that technology should become part of the work culture so that new opportunities can be exploited for personal and professional growth. It has greatly facilitated communication among various inter-related factors, thus creating a wider database of new opportunities which would help businesses to survive and maintain leverage in the hard financial environment. Hence, it is important to meet the challenges of the contemporary lifestyle that demands a more innovative approach based on the latest technology.

The fast and efficient mode of communication through Internet technology has created a huge database of the potential market for businesses. In order to compete in the new global environment of competitive business, it is important to tap this emerging digital space. Electronic commerce, therefore, has become the need of the hour. The advent of computers and the Internet has significantly influenced the behavior of consumers, which has undergone tremendous change. Kalakota (2002) says that e-commerce has dissolved the traditional business model and created new linkages across buyers, sellers, and everyone in between.

It is happening in phases and has become the key economic solvent for businesses across the globe. Online marketing and sales have emerged as vital imperative of contemporary businesses because it helps to specify where the business is placed in the value chain (Rappa, 2005). The information provides wide-ranging knowledge about the existing and emerging paradigms of the business world which may have a considerable impact on organizational performance outcomes. Internet facilitates a huge scope of databases through the effective exploitation of information regarding many aspects of consumer behavior.