Digital Maturity of Retail Enterprises in Ukraine: Technology of Definition and Directions of Improvement

Abstract

In the domestic retail sector, digital transformation processes have proceeded rather slowly, therefore, in terms of digitalization, there has been a significant lag behind global trends. However, modern conditions and new challenges have become a catalyst for accelerating digital transformation processes in retail. The development of online sales and communication channels and the digitalization of tools for interaction with market entities have become a priority, which necessitates a new practical rationale and development of recommendations for assessing the degree of digital maturity of retail enterprises. The aim of the article is to develop a technology for analyzing the level of digital maturity of a trading enterprise based on the formation of a digital maturity matrix and an assessment of their digital infrastructure, digital skills of personnel and digital activities. In the context of the directions that are being identified, the analysis of the state of digitalization of the domestic economy for 2017–2019 was performed. In order to prove the empirical and methodological hypothesis the technology of determining the level of digital maturity of the retail enterprise is substantiated. This basis is a set of methods and tools that identifies the reasons for the lag of digitalization processes from market needs. During the research in order to visualize data and research results, the method of expert assessments, the method of systematization and the graphical method have been used. Correlation of certain ranks of importance with the level of digital activity of marketing activities of retail enterprises allowed to build a matrix for determining the level of digital maturity, which allows to establish the level and identify the state of digitalization of marketing activities of retail enterprises. According to the results of the assessment of digital maturity, the highest rank of importance has a website as a sales channel and e-commerce, social media as communication channels and availability of high-speed broadband Internet access.