Search

Search Results

• Practical experiences of business performance measurement in Hungarian e-commerce

  58-75

  Rita Csáki-Darabos

  Views:

  13

  In E-commerce is gaining ground all over the world, and its role in the global economy is growing. However, it is important to note that the current inflationary environment puts e-commerce at a disadvantage compared to traditional sales. Rising prices for food and everyday goods have been reflected in consumers' shopping baskets, while e-commerce has seen increased demand for cheaper substitute products. This has reduced basket value and made it difficult to meet performance targets. As traditional stores have grown in importance, e-commerce's share of total trade has fallen from a record high of 10.4% in 2021 to 9.6% in 2022. It is forecast that, within ten years, 30% of retail sales will be made online. These changing shopping habits will present challenges for business leaders. The research aims to determine the extent to which e-commerce businesses in Hungary are influenced by performance measurement tools and systems, how these tools and systems are used, how they improve performance, and their impact on the achievement of corporate performance objectives. It is particularly important to examine which areas can be improved and which pose barriers or risks to achieving targets. In order to make key decisions, business leaders require information on the most impactful factors and those that will help them to achieve their goals. To achieve this, it is necessary to assess companies' current performance improvement and measurement practices and the results achieved, as well as identifying the interrelationships between the different factors. This research was conducted through a questionnaire survey of e-commerce businesses. Based on the responses, the factors that contribute most to effective management were investigated, highlighting the performance improvement and measurement tools on which these businesses should focus.

  The questionnaire-based survey comprised a total of 24 items, organized into two main sections. The first section focused on collecting general background information, while the second section aimed to assess practices related to performance measurement and evaluation. This latter section included questions concerning performance objectives, performance-inhibiting and risk factors, the tools and methods used for performance measurement, operational, financial, and market-based performance outcomes, as well as the evaluation of measured performance.

  A total of 224 valid responses were collected. During the data analysis, principal component analysis (PCA) was employed to reduce the dimensionality of the variable groups. Closely related variables were grouped into single components based on their intercorrelations. Subsequently, a dependent variable was defined, and the Backward elimination method was applied to identify those principal components that best explained the variance in the dependent variable. Cluster analysis was conducted to form distinct groups, and the financial, asset-related, and income-related indicators of the resulting clusters were examined. These clusters were later utilized in hypothesis testing. Improved profitability, increasing returns, and enhanced financial performance were observed in Cluster 2. For enterprises within this cluster, the introduction of new products, the establishment of long-term growth objectives, and the monitoring of website visits and customer complaints were considered particularly important. These findings suggest that such factors should be given special consideration by enterprises operating in online marketplaces.