The Effect of Retail Market Concentration on Development of Electronic Retailing in the Danube Region

Abstract

The development of electronic retailing as a new retail marketing channel based on the Internet appears in contemporary theory and practice. In such market conditions, there is a research problem in which the level of development of the retail market and increasing concentration and competition in the market impact the development of electronic retailing. The aim to prove in this paper is to determine whether the level of concentration of the traditional retail market influences the share of electronic retailing in total retail revenue. The Danube region countries are chosen because of differences in the level of development of the retail market and electronic retailing. The sale revenues of the largest retailers based on which the level of concentration of the retail market in a particular country is determined are analyzed. The study concluded that a high share of the ten biggest retailers in the total retail revenue, as an indicator of the development of the retail market, follows the high share of e-retailing in total retail revenue to some extent. The results also confirmed a significant relation between the origin and types of retailers and the degree of concentration of electronic retail. Recommendations for future research are given in the paper.