Prospects for the development of e-commerce: opportunities and risks

Abstract

This article is dedicated to the development of e-commerce in the Russian Federation. The relevance of this topic is substantiated by the growth rates of this segment of commerce. The goal lies in analysis of the prospects for the development of e-commerce, taking into account the potential opportunities and challenges for the consumers, retail businesses and national economy overall. The subject of this research is the process of development of the e-commerce market. The research employs institutional approach, which implies consideration of a wide range of noneconomic factors (social, scientific-technical, technological, etc.) in the theoretical analysis of the evolution of e-commerce. The information base contains the data from the Association of E-Commerce Companies, National Association of Mail Order and Distance Selling Trade, and the works of Russian and foreign scholars. The author offers a hierarchy of concepts: e-business, e-commerce, and online trade. Tracing the history of evolution of the forms of commerce proves that e-commerce is a type of distance trading. The proposed by the author stages of development of distance trading reveals the historical peaks of its development, including separation of e-commerce. The results of analysis of e-commerce market led to the following conclusions: 1) e-commerce is one of the dynamically developing sectors of the economy, which generates new job opportunities and tax revenues; 2) the key prerequisites for the active development of e-commerce market consist in processes of digitalization and globalization of the economy; 3) the COVID-19 pandemic became a catalyst for the development of e-commerce. The development of e-commerce creates a range of opportunities and risks for all parties involved: the state, business entities, and consumers. The opportunities and risks outlined by the author may contribute to elaboration of measures aimed at utilization of opportunities and mitigation of risk caused by the development of e-commerce, which would determine its development prospects.