Cross-Border E-Commerce Diffusion and Usage During the period of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A literature Review

Abstract

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic could be felt in many areas of the economy such as e-commerce and cross-border e-commerce supply chain systems. The effect of the pandemic on e-commerce (cross-border) a result of the restricted movement of people and the shutdown of businesses impeded the smooth flow of the e-commerce supply chain systems that affected consumers’ access to needed commodities and services. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an increase in online retail sales which shows the share of total retail sales from 16% to 19% in 2020. The review also shows that global e-commerce sales volumes expanded to $26.7 trillion in 2019 (up 4% from 2018). Additionally, the report showed that the value of the world B2B e-commerce in 2019 was $21.8 trillion which accounts for 82% of all e-commerce globally. Also, the B2C e-commerce sales volumes reached $4.9 trillion in 2019 which was up by 11% as compared to 2018. The data reviewed shows that the United States dominated the overall e-commerce market globally, ahead of both Japan and China. Governments should continue to implement innovative strategies to help curb the impact of the COVID-19 on the e-commerce and cross-border e-commerce supply chain system. They should build resilient e-commerce supply chain systems that can withstand any future shocks be it pandemic or not.