Management of E-Commerce: Impact on Start-Up Ecosystem

Abstract

The e-commerce sector is one of the emerging and promising sectors. At the same time in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, this sector is experiencing a significant growth spurt that makes it one of the sectors supporting the national economy by attracting more investments. In turn, it contributes to supporting GDP, as well as its role in creating more job opportunities for young people through expanding entrepreneurship and innovation. E-commerce contributes to creating new employment opportunities; Either by making it possible to establish small and medium-sized commercial projects for individuals and linking them to global markets at the lowest investment costs by creating a means of direct communication between the consumer and the product, or by providing them with job opportunities in many different fields related to e-commerce applications; Such as e-commerce website specialists, store workers, administrators, and technicians. Despite this, the success of the sector in fulfilling its targeted role according to the Kingdom's Vision 2030 remains subject to consumer awareness, their confidence in e-commerce, the logistics services, and payments system. Besides, the communication infrastructure through the expansion of the number of POS devices at various payment outlets, they have indeed witnessed significant growth. It recorded nearly 62% during 2018 compared to the situation in 2017. However, the number of these devices is still needed to expand. The expanded role of this sector also requires taking into account work on organizing many activities to educate citizens about the importance of this sector to the various global e-commerce sites and how to use them, taking into account the language so that there are no obstacles between the users of these sites. It should also work to consider the cost of shipping expenses so that everyone can spend their requirements through e-commerce sites. The Internet and the latest technological advancements resulted in the emergence of e-commerce. E-commerce is changing the business environment across the globe. However, the motivating factor for this research has been the lack of research linking the development of e-commerce and its impact on the start-up ecosystem that is specific to Saudi Arabia. There is a general agreement amongst the scholars and experts that the start-up ecosystem plays a critical role in the country's economic system and e-commerce has become an integral part of that economic growth story of nations including Saudi Arabia. Therefore, the primary aim of this research was to examine the impact of e-commerce on the start-up ecosystem in Saudi Arabia. The authors analyzed the scientific journals and articles on the selected theme. The theoretical findings were put to the test using qualitative interviews that lasted between 30-45 minutes with eight highly skilled and experienced professionals in the field of e-commerce, start-up ecosystem, and management areas. Based on literature research and qualitative interviews, the key findings of this research are: (1) e-commerce and start-up ecosystem are amongst the key drivers of Saudi Arabia’s economy, (2) e-commerce have a significant positive impact on start-up ecosystem of Saudi Arabia, and (3) e-commerce has facilitated the start-up ecosystem to become inclusive through the rise of women entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia. Keywords: e-commerce, start-up ecosystem, women entrepreneurship, internet technologies.