Merchandising/Marketing/Retailing: Management

Micro Fashion Businesses’ Adoption of Ecommerce in the Covid-19 Environment

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Abstract

Microbusinesses have become the backbone of the US economy. They offer inclusive growth and provide products and services tailored to locals. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused massive damage across all the microbusinesses in the USA. Global lockdown, social distancing, and other measures introduced to limit the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic have urged consumers to purchase more on online marketplaces. The pandemic sparked a meteoric rise in online sales. As visits to physical stores were restricted, consumers went online to shop, causing online purchases to grow higher and higher. A firm’s adaptive capability provides the theoretical foundation for this study. A qualitative study was designed to explore the adaptive capabilities of micro businesses that helped them to adopt eCommerce tools for their business operations. In-depth semi structured interviews were conducted with the owners or managers of 11 micro fashion firms in West Virginia and the Appalachian region of the United States of America from July 2021 to September 2021. The adaptive capabilities that were found to influence the process of adoption and implementation of eCommerce tools were (i) technological capabilities, (ii) organizational capabilities, (iii) operational capabilities, (iv) human resource capabilities, (v) financial capabilities, and (vi) customer service capabilities.

Keywords: Micro Business, Ecommerce, Covid-19, Retail Trade, Appalachian region

How to Cite:

Das, D., (2022) “Micro Fashion Businesses’ Adoption of Ecommerce in the Covid-19 Environment”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 79(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.16024