ICT Adoption and Booming E-Commerce Usage in the COVID-19 Era

Abstract

With the rise of the digital economy, digitalization has fundamentally transformed the way we live and work [Organization for Economic Co-operation Development (OCED), 2019]. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2019, people have been increasingly relying more on digital technologies due to pandemic prevention and control strategies such as lockdown, social distancing, enclosure of restaurants and malls, etc. COVID-19 has been intensively transforming the world's trends, people's behavior, nature of business, and daily life (Bhatti et al., 2020). Meanwhile, it has been acting as a catalyst or accelerator of this new digital revolution in the COVID-19 Era, especially for the rapid adoption of e-learning and e-commerce globally.Both direct and indirect impacts of COVID-19 have forced people to purchase goods online. Meanwhile, traditional producers and traders have also moved their business online regarding the declining shares of conventional trade and the unstable markets due to the COVID-induced supply chain disruptions, resource shortage, lack of human capital, declined customer demand, etc. The World Trade Organization (WTO; Abdelrhim and Abdullah, 2020) states that it is the exact time for e-commerce to rescue the global economy from the COVID-19 and that it is to interfere with vigor and energy and demonstrate e-commerce of its prominence and effectiveness in the field of trade and online shopping. METHODOLOGYThis study is conducted in three steps. First, the literature review is conducted systematically to review existing recent studies related to the nexus between ICT, e-commerce, and COVID-19, evaluating recent research trends/focus in the area. Second, we follow up the literature review by analyzing the new trends and new opportunities. Here, relevant studies on this topic are selected to support the background basis and inform the content for further discussions. Third, discussions on ICT adoption and multiple benefits of e-commerce are provided based on the results of the first two steps. Figure 1 summarizes the methodology flow in three steps. LITERATURE REVIEWThe impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have been growing well recognized globally across all industries among all groups of people, and disruptions of the global supply chain have created an excellent chance to explore the promising potential of e-commerce as a mode of future trade. This results in booming e-commerce and leads to accelerated ICT adoption driven by digital Publisher's Note: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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