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• Impact of Digitalization on Domestic Trade Strategies

  318-333

  Enikő Kontor

  Marietta Kiss

  András Fehér

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  1341

  The aim of our study is to reveal the fit of digital space into current and future trade and to assess the effects of digitization on Hungarian trade strategies. The information gathering and purchasing habits of consumers have changed dramatically in recent years. Consumers today make buying decisions based primarily on convenience, effectiveness (fast and convenient access to products at adequate price/value ratio), and experience. Adjusting to these trends, traders developed novel trading strategies, and the use of achievements of digitization is an integral part of these strategies. One aspect of digitization is the increasing global development of e-commerce. The Hungarian online commerce have also been expanding significantly from year after year: based on 2018 data, domestic and foreign online sales volume have passed 1000 billion HUF. The Hungarian online consumers buy on the Internet more and more often and at greater and greater value. The online shopping on virtual reality platforms may make this purchase mode more experiential. Webshops have to meet new consumer needs, and deliver the ordered products as soon as possible, preferably within 24 hours. An increasing number of parcel delivery options has begun becoming more and more popular (e.g., automatic parcel terminals, pick pack points). However, traditional channels should not be buried, either. Their obvious advantage is that consumers can take their choice based on multiple senses and it also gives them more room for impulse buying. Combined with the digital technology compliant with contemporary requirements, this can offer a complete shopping experience. Nowadays, recognizing this need online and traditional channels have been mixed in several cases (e.g., multichannel, omnichannel, cross-channel sales) and offer several options for consumers during the purchase process. The sales area optimization of traditional shops and the buyer paths aided by digital technology (e.g., digital shelf labels) are designed for the buyers’ convenience. The newest innovations imply automation of the buying process making the whole process more convenient and more personalized with the use of sensors (e.g., Amazon Go) or robots (e.g., Pepper). In our future purchases, digital personal assistants will appear as digital versions of sales personnel.