Analysing the impact of COVID-19 on the digital strategies of South African retailers

Abstract

Orientation: COVID-19 pandemic led to a surge in e-commerce with retailers having to embrace digital technologies and develop, implement and/or update digital strategies.Research purpose: This study aims to analyse the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the digital strategies of four JSE-listed retailers.Motivation for the study: The e-commerce industry in South Africa is still developing, and retailers need guidance on how to plan better for and manage new customer behaviour introduced by the pandemic.Research design/approach and method: A multiple case study approach was followed to collect qualitative data from the integrated reports of four JSE-listed retailers for the financial year-ends of 2017 until 2021. A newly developed digital strategy hexagon framework was used as the measuring instrument.Main findings: The findings indicate that the retailers with a pre-COVID digital strategy were better positioned to address challenges associated with the pandemic and also displayed the six components of the digital strategy hexagon framework in their integrated reports.Practical/managerial implications: E-commerce businesses could use the framework to design a digital strategy and/or build on their existing digital strategy.Contribution/value add: A novel digital strategy hexagon framework was designed, which could be used by businesses to build or improve their digital strategy.