Assignment Sample on OTEC1016 Supply Chain Management

Introduction

A major role has been played by UNCTAD in raising awareness of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) pandemic as a result of the outbreak of the disease. This has included promoting e-commerce and other digital solutions, as well as raising awareness of the threats posed by the disease. A worry has also been expressed by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on possible increases in digital inequality, particularly in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) (LDCs). 1 Organizers from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and partners in the eTrade for All initiative organised the first-ever virtual 2020 eCommerce Week to provide an unprecedented opportunity for a diverse group of stakeholders to examine the ramifications of the COVID-19 epidemic and go in-depth on critical digital challenges that have emerged as a result of the outbreak. 2 A subsequent inquiry was carried out by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development  into the crisis’s impact on e-commerce enterprises in developing and least developed countries (LDCs). With this study, we hoped to better understand the magnitude of impact of the crisis, as well as the key trends and difficulties confronting e-commerce enterprises, and the responses of public and private policymakers to the crisis, in order to inform future research. (Galhotra,2020)

E-commerce capacity-building programmes run by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development have benefited all countries, whether through the implementation of an e-Commerce Readiness Assessment (eT Ready) or the development of a national e-commerce strategy and action plan. (Deshmukh,2018)

The impacts of Covid-19 on Supply chain management in Indian e-commerce

Businesses can be divided into two types: those engaged in manufacturing and those engaged in providing services. Manufacturing businesses are the most common. Businesses that offer at least a percentage of their goods or services online, as well as those that sell their products through third-party online marketplaces, are considered to be in this classification.

The epidemic has exacerbated the already-existing trend toward increased usage of social media and e-commerce transactions, which has already started. Because of the need to access essential commodities, it has also been noticed that consuming habits have changed in some instances as a result of this necessity. It is essential for e-commerce enterprises to have sales channels, such as social media and their own e-commerce websites, in order to succeed. The popularity of both networks has increased in the one year since the commencement of the COVID-19 battle, according to recent polls.

As a result of the limited environment, thousands of people are being forced to change their purchasing habits in India , and their relationship with the market and its brands is evolving as a result of this transformation. If anything, this should serve as a big wake-up call to any and all manufacturers that continue to refuse to sell their products online, despite the fact that they have the potential to do so. Additionally, an evaluation of a segment of the online market is being carried out in terms of management and logistical capacity as a result of increased demand for specific needs and the management of a crisis, both of which are forcing them to handle storage and distribution through distance-based mechanisms.

The transition from going to work to working from home has occurred, as has the transition from shopping in storefronts to purchasing online, and the transition from shopping at the supermarket to completing our grocery shopping on Prime Now (Amazon) or other marketplaces. In India Amazon company has been forced to adopt a more digital approach to its business operations. Internet shopping, on the other hand, gives an excellent opportunity for individuals who are most prone to the condition because they do not have to drive vast distances to huge grocery stores or tiny local shops. As a result, as evidenced by the current situation, online marketplaces, particularly those that are capable of satisfying increasing demand, such as Amazon, are crucial to the survival of the human species.

In India Client demand, logistical capacity, and health requirements are only a few of the aspects taken into consideration when determining which items should be considered as priorities. Adding new items or categories to Amazon’s priority product list is becoming more common with each passing day, a trend that will eventually lead to market standardisation in the future.

The supply chains for the various platforms are extremely restricted in India , which is a major source of irritation for everyone involved. Because they have no prior consumption history and because their purchases are more impulsive than reasoned, it is vital to re-evaluate goods flows. During the course of confinement, consumption habits, as well as the manner in which products are delivered to the consumer, have all altered. When it comes to online merchants like Amazon, where there is no longer any personal touch between the customer and the delivery person, this is very important to consider.

Despite the fact that electronic payments are becoming increasingly ubiquitous, the practise of paying with cash on delivery is still widely practised. According to recent study, changes in consumer behaviour have been found to be connected with an increase in the adoption of cashless payment systems in recent years.

As a matter of fact, in India  more than 60% of e-commerce businesses and 70% of online third-party marketplaces, mobile money payments are growing at a quicker rate than both online banking and credit card purchases combined. Although cash on delivery is less common in absolute terms than alternative payment options, it is still popular, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LDCs), and has grown in popularity since the epidemic began, as more and more people turn to the internet to fulfil their shopping needs.

However, while the pandemic has given opportunities for a number of digitally driven business models, a substantial portion of the e-commerce industry is suffering from poor economic prospects as a result of the epidemic, according to the CDC.

66 percent of the respondents who took part in the study stated that the COVID-19 problem had a negative impact on their costs, according to the findings.

As reported by the poll participants from India, 66 percent of their workforce has remained stable or is expected to grow in the near future, while the remaining 3 percent has seen their workforce shrink. Despite this, a significant proportion of respondents (44 percent) reported that they were obliged to reduce the number of staff at their organisation.

Aside from increasing restrictions that previously existed in the e-commerce ecosystem, the epidemic has also expanded the number of countries that must overcome these barriers in order to reap the benefits of e-commerce growth by boosting their degree of preparedness for the digital economy. (Memon,2021)

More than 60% of those who responded said that supply chain delays caused by lockdowns, business closures, and border restrictions made logistics and trade facilitation more difficult to manage as a result of the situation. More than half of individuals who replied to the poll stated that logistical issues stemming from mobility limits have had a negative influence on their company’s operations, which was also highlighted in the poll. (Sharma,2020)

More than half of individuals who answered to the survey’s questionnaire cited the high cost of internet services as a reason for their participation. Responses to COVID-19 included additional demands, such as the implementation of changes to e-commerce regulations and procedures. Several pre-existing hurdles in the e-commerce ecosystems of the countries under investigation have been made much more difficult to overcome as a result of the present epidemic, notably in significant and interconnected policy areas that are critical to the spread of inclusive e-commerce. The respondents’ ability to invest in the expansion of their e-commerce businesses was also limited as a result of these impediments, which exacerbated inequities in ICT adoption and brought to light issues related to consumer protection and fair competition, as well as a widespread “cash on delivery” mentality. (Suguna,2020)

A number of solutions have been established in both the public and private sectors to deal with the consequences of the epidemic, and these solutions are available to both the public and private sectors. Many projects have been developed by governments and businesses to address the problems caused by the epidemic and to mitigate its economic impact. The following are some examples: (Abdelrhim, 2020). Following the outbreak, one of the most significant initiatives implemented, according to survey respondents, is the adoption or upgrade of a national e-commerce strategy, which demonstrates governments’ increased commitment to transforming e-commerce into a strategic economic sector by transforming it into a strategic economic sector. Other programmes have concentrated on minimising the expenses of utilising the Internet and making electronic payments, as well as providing logistical support for these operations. An increasing number of legislative reforms and private-sector activities have all contributed to the development of corporate culture, with the result that more customers are eager to engage in electronic commerce as a result of these efforts. (Khan,2021)

The difficulties they encountered, as well as the efforts put forth by both the public and private sectors, led to the assertion that e-commerce barriers were being reduced for businesses and consumers alike, and that businesses were being pushed to seek greater business efficiency and new market niches as a result of their experiences. Furthermore, they stated that the rising usage of the Internet and online financial transactions has aided in the acceleration of company procedures and, in certain cases, the reduction of losses.

As a result of the COVID-19 crisis, there was an increase in public-private collaborations, which has persisted to this day. (Reardon,2021)

One of the most significant impediments to the recovery and expansion of the global economy, on the other hand, has been the inability to obtain funding for online businesses. A new wave of interest has been sparked by the COVID-19 incident, which took place in November of last year. The study’s findings indicate that up to 40 percent of the businesses polled have previously taken part in or are presently participating in public-private partnerships or projects involving just private sector participants. People who did not engage did so mostly because they did not fully comprehend the activities or did not have access to networking opportunities with other professional colleagues, according to the majority of participants. Across the board, only 14 percent of individuals who answered to the poll were successful in securing additional money for their projects. According to the data, only one in every five businesses polled attempted to raise more finance, and only one in every five enterprises was successful in their endeavours. (Nivethitha,2019)

COVID-19 recovery efforts should include measures to make e-commerce more accessible, in accordance with the suggestions made by the survey participants. When it comes to the COVID-19 recovery plans, the vast majority of poll respondents agreed that developing a well-defined national e-commerce strategy should be the government’s top priority. In addition to lower Internet and broadband connection rates, mobile and other electronic payments received high scores as strategies for stimulating the economy. (Nesterenko,2021)

In order to be effective, a significant international coordination effort as well as multi-stakeholder cooperation at the global level are essential to support fair e-commerce development. A strong stance for UNCTAD is to mobilise the eTrade for All collaboration in support of the COVID-19 recovery plans of developing countries and least developed countries, which are now in the process of being created. As part of its efforts to ensure that e-commerce is integrated into national development plans and development cooperation frameworks of development partners,(Abdelrhim,2020)

Supply chain Mapping

Recommendations of managing supply chain under the context of Covid-19

Based on replies from e-commerce enterprises and policymakers, the heart of this research evaluates the influence of COVID-19 on the operations of these businesses and lawmakers.. Aside from that, representatives from the eT Readies’ already formed list of e-commerce stakeholders were consulted at various points along the development process. In the poll, there were two sorts of businesses that took part: 1) those that sell at least some of their products and services online, and 2) those that sell through third-party online marketplaces. (Singh,2019)

To enable the various logistical platforms to provide service, others, such as Amazon, have created more than 1,500 new jobs in order to support their operations. As a result, there are several examples of supply chains that have been reorganised in order to meet the demands of the online market.

In order to accommodate the high volume of products being consumed, the saturation of online services on various platforms generally results in the following drawbacks: excessively long delivery times from the date of the order, a lack of product availability, long wait times before being able to make purchases, poor stock rotation, failure to take expiration dates into consideration, and a lack of a basic product selection. Since then, Amazon has strategically decided to devote all of its resources on what consumers genuinely require, namely the most basic of things, rather than to anything else available in the market.

When comparing countries, the number of answers received varies depending on the number of initial contacts made in each country during the campaign’s duration in that particular country. The facts and conclusions drawn as a result of this should be viewed with caution as a result of this. Sales have decreased for the majority of e-commerce enterprises during this time period, whereas sales have increased for more than 60% of third-party online marketplaces during this time period. New clients were recruited as a result of the latter, and it was also made easier to recruit new sellers. Several businesses that took part in the poll got increasingly polarised as a result of their participation in the COVID-19 issue being introduced. (Nayal, 2021) The number of e-commerce enterprises that offer items and services online has decreased by around 58 percent in the last year. A range of causes, including lockdown measures or other limits on people’s movement and commodities transportation, among others, can be ascribed to the 50 percent fall in sales (see also Section III below). Businesses, on the other hand, reported an increase in their monthly revenue of around 30%, according to the data. (Shahzad,2020)’

On the other hand, according to the statistics gathered, sales through third-party online marketplaces have surged by nearly 60% since 2011. Sales grew by 10 percent to 50 percent on 37 percent of the marketplaces analysed when compared to the previous month. Market analysts have observed a growth in sales on third-party online marketplaces, as demonstrated by an increase in both the number of customers and the number of vendors on the marketplaces under study, according to their findings. The number of clients on marketplaces has decreased in recent months, while the number of merchants has decreased in over a fifth of marketplaces, according to current data. This could be explained by variances in the magnitude of the effect and the composition of sales between different subsectors of the e-commerce business. On a worldwide scale, businesses that are entirely digital, such as third-party online marketplaces, have outperformed traditional e-commerce businesses.

• When it comes to mitigating the negative implications of the COVID-19 situation, collaboration between market participants and the state sector is vital. It was found that nearly half of individuals who responded had been or are presently active in public-private sector collaboration, and that 40% have been or are currently involved in public sector operations .
• When it comes to meeting public needs while also ensuring the long-term viability of the enterprises that provide them, complementary qualitative responses place a heavy focus on collaboration rather than competition, as seen in the following case study. This is done in order to ensure that the most fundamental of criteria are addressed as early as feasible.
• Aside from that, the document emphasises the long-term benefits of the current relationship, such as greater e-commerce trust, which has been highlighted in the past. In contrast, consumers’ lack of confidence in e-commerce makes it harder to be successful in this industry.

The development of quality labels for e-commerce operators as a result of public-private collaborations is becoming increasingly crucial in protecting consumers’ rights and establishing confidence among online shoppers.(Mor,2020)

Conclusions

Areas of potential have been highlighted for time and resources investment, including onboarding new enterprises, supporting local product manufacturers, and procuring locally in general.

In India when it comes to purchasing products, consumers are rapidly turning away from traditional brick-and-mortar businesses, supermarkets, and shopping malls and toward internet portals. Products ranging from everyday necessities to high-end designer items are being purchased through online portals. Check out all of your alternatives for dealing with the plethora of selling channels that are available to you. As a result of this trend, the number of people who shop online in India has increased, as has the number of people who are shopping online for the first time as a result of this trend. They were the same people that had previously barred them from shopping on the internet, and they were still there. It is expected that the breadth of online transactions and online businesses will expand even further now that the social distance regulation will be in effect for virtually the entire year 2020 will be applied.

This has resulted in a large number of web services that are currently available not being designed to handle such a high volume of traffic from the beginning of their existence. It has been reported by the National Retail Federation that the number of people who make online purchases has surged by 55 percent in the last few weeks alone. When shopping online, it is feasible to detect this saturation by comparing the time it takes for orders to be delivered from various grocery chains. A number of department stores have restructured their personnel into several subsidiaries in order to better serve the customers and keep up with the growing demand for online purchases. For example, helping society’s most vulnerable individuals is a major focus of many programmes, such as delivering relief packages to low-income moms or producing face masks in marginalised communities, which are then sold globally and provided locally to those in need.

References

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