Holistic Marketing Management, Volume 11, Issue 4, Year 2021 by Holistic Marketing Management

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‘ Mar k et i ngSc i enceandI ns pi r at i ons ’ :Gener at i onal Mar k et i ngand Val ui ngandPr ac t i c i ngSus t ai nabl eBehav i or s DanSMEDESCU

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Editorial Board of “Holistic Marketing Management” (A refereed journal published four times annually by the School of Management-Marketing of the Romanian-American University)

Editor-in-Chief Theodor Valentin PURCĂREA

Bernd HALLIER

John SAEE

John L. STANTON

Léon F. WEGNEZ

William PERTTULA Levent ALTINAY

Andrew KILNER Dana ZADRAZILOVA Riccardo BELTRAMO Sinisa ZARIC Gabriela SABĂU Hélène NIKOLOPOULOU Vasa LÁSZLÓ Peter STARCHON John MURRAY

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President of European Retail Academy; President of EuCVoT, Member of the Astana Economic Scientists Club; Former Managing Director EHI Retail Institute, Germany, Chairman of the Advisory Board of EuroShop, Chairman of the Board of the Orgainvent, Trustee of EHI Retail Institute at GLOBALG.A.P. President - Association of Global Management Studies (USA); Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues & Former Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Management Systems, USA; Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship, the Faculty of Business and Enterprise, Swinburne University of Technology; Member of France’s National Academy of Scientific Research (CNRS); Director - ESB International Teaching and Research Exchanges, Reutlingen University, Germany Professor of Food Marketing, Erivan K. Haub School of Business, Saint Joseph’s University Philadelphia, USA; Director, Institute of Food Products Marketing, Editor, Journal of Food Products Marketing; Hall of Fame of the European Retail Academy, Honored Personality 2016 Secretary General, International Association of the Distributive Trade, AIDA Brussels; Member of France’s Academy of Commercial Sciences; Doctor Honoris Causa of NUPSPA (SNSPA) Bucharest; Hall of Fame of the European Retail Academy, Honored Personality 2015; Administrator Secretary General of the Diplomatic Club of Belgium Internet Marketing Professor, College of Business, San Francisco State University, USA Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Research Area Leader, Oxford School of Hospitality Management, Faculty of Business, Oxford Brookes University, UK First MBA Director at the Rennes Graduate School of Business in France; Director of RAFME Research into Management Excellence; PhD (Cambridge), MBA (City, London) Faculty of International Economic Relations, University of Economics, Prague, Czech Republic University of Turin, Italy University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia Memorial University, Grenfell Campus, Corner Brook, Canada University of Lille 3, France Szent Istvan University, Hungary Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia Faculty of Business, Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland

Kamil PÍCHA Irena JINDRICHOVSKA Norbert HAYDAM Hans ZWAGA Roxana CODITA Valeriu IOAN-FRANC Dumitru MIRON Iacob CĂTOIU Virgil BALAURE Gheorghe ORZAN Luigi DUMITRESCU Marius D. POP Constantin ROŞCA Petru FILIP

Ion VOICU SUCALA Virgil POPA Alexandru NEDELEA Olguța Anca ORZAN Ana-Maria PREDA Ovidiu FOLCUȚ Doinița CIOCÎRLAN Costel NEGRICEA Tudor EDU Alexandru IONESCU Andreea Elisabeta BUDACIA Marius Dan DALOTĂ Mihai PAPUC Gheorghe ILIESCU Oana PREDA Olga POTECEA Nicoleta DUMITRU Monica Paula RAȚIU Alexandra PERJU-MITRAN

Faculty of Economics, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice Deputy Head of Department of Business Economics, University of Economics and Management, Prague, Czech Republic Faculty of Business, Marketing Department, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa Kemi-Tornio University of Applied Sciences, Finland Technische Universität München, TUM School of Management Corresponding Member of the Romanian Academy, General Deputy Director, National Institute for Economic Research “Costin C. Kiriţescu”, Romanian Marketing Association; Romanian Distribution Committee Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, President of RAFPEC (FRAPEC) Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca President of Romanian Scientific Society of Management - SSMAR Dimitrie Cantemir University, Bucharest Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Management and Economic Engineering Department; University of Glasgow, UK, College of Social Sciences, School of Social & Political Sciences; Managing Editor, Review of Management and Economic Engineering Valahia University of Târgovişte Ştefan cel Mare University of Suceava Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University Romanian-American University

Associate Editors Dan SMEDESCU Irina PURCĂREA Art Designer Director Alexandru BEJAN Holistic Marketing Management

“Holistic Marketing Management” (A refereed journal published four times annually by the School of Management-Marketing of the Romanian-American University)

Volume 11, Issue 4, Year 2021

Contents

Theodor PURCĂREA - Digital Channels, Budgeting Decisions, and Marketing Metrics......................4

Bernd HALLIER (by courtesy of) - European Retail Academy (ERA) Webinar on Sustainability, March 18-19.03.2022......................................................................9

Ioan Matei PURCĂREA - Digital Maturity improved by Digital Marketing in Harmony with e-commerce...................................................................................................13 Dan SMEDESCU – ‘Marketing Science and Inspirations’: Generational Marketing and Valuing and Practicing Sustainable Behaviors........................................................25

HMM Personalia Corner

● Ioan-Matei PURCĂREA – Considerations Regarding the Effects of Industrie 4.0 on e-commerce.........................................................................................34

The responsibility for the contents of the scientific and the authenticity of the published materials and opinions expressed rests with the author.

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Editorial: Digital Channels, Budgeting Decisions, and Marketing Metrics

In our last HMM Editorial we made reference to various point of views regarding the way of dealing with uncertainty, better understanding and responding to the emotional needs of customers, within the context of both the changes caused by COVID-19 pandemic, and the digital disruption as a transformation caused by emerging digital technologies and business models, considering marketers’ priorities and actions while learning from those doing their best to stay ahead of the trends, rethinking the marketing technology ecosystem and enabling continuous change so as to deliver real-time, personalized CX, improving organizations’ connection with customers, succeeding and thriving accordingly (Purcarea, T., 2021). According to Gartner (a, 2021), within the context of the accelerated adoption of digital channels by consumers (while increasing their demand for greater ownership over their digital identities) and of still in progress data privacy disruptions, which are both upending traditional advertising placements, there is an obvious pressure on digital marketing leaders to manage the advancements of data privacy for internet users which prevent the success of marketers’ digital advertising efforts. Consequently, as Google, Facebook (Meta) and Amazon represent, for instance, nearly 2/3 of total US digital advertising revenue (11.2% of marketing budgets being already captured by digital advertising), marketers need to consider their complete dependence on how the closed ecosystems (having plenty of owned and constantly updated first-party data) Holistic Marketing Management

of the so-called walled gardens of YouTube, Amazon and Facebook (Meta) measure and interpret advertising performance (while preserving the integrity of their users’ privacy). Hence the challenge to agilely adapt across their media mix of walled gardens and publishers, including by experimenting the ads’ placement with emerging platforms, and being ready for data clean rooms’ future (within and outside of the so-called walled gardens). Insights from Gartner’s 2021 Annual CMO Spend Survey confirmed the importance for the resilient brands (managed by agile marketers) to remain agile not only in their channel and program mix, but also in their media mix. It is well-known that companies’ budget discussions should treat marketing and advertising as an investment in a company’s future, always remembering the wise words of Henry Ford: “Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping your watch to save time” (WordPress VIP, 2021). Budgeting decisions (guided by companies’ clear goals converted into marketing goals that connect with the comprehensive companies’ goals, marketing goals depending on content’s success) are informed and validated by solid strategic plans creating a return on technology investments. To adopt marketing analytics and attribution solutions (which are giving marketers insight into shifting consumer preferences in real time), companies’ primary roadblock is typically the budget (Wilson, 2021). Marketers can take advantage of marketing analytics tools (like identity resolution and cross-channel measurement) to establish and monitor KPIs for customer acquisitions, conversions etc. As shown by Nielsen (2021) COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for both efficient, and effective spending (top priorities being customer acquisition and brand awareness) within the framework of the continuous critical examination of the marketing budgets, the importance of accurate and holistic measurement being intensified with the rising usage of new platforms and channels by brands’ marketing efforts. According to Nielsen, trust, comparability and adaptability are the three pillars all the brands should focus on, the facilitation of deduplicated measurement (and also of the comparable metrics’ production) across all channels (including walled gardens) requiring marketers to use solutions to maximum advantage, by embracing the duality of needing near-term sales and brand awareness based on Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM for short- and long-term ROI) and Multi Touch Attribution (MTA, ensuring responsive MTA platforms to the prevailing trends in the market regarding data availability) to better understand the effectiveness of their marketing. Coming back to Gartner, it is worth mentioning that they are recommending: • To map content marketing metrics to business outcomes, as shown in figure below (Gartner b, 2021):

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Figure no. 1: Map Content Marketing Metrics to Business Outcomes Source: Gartner b, 2021. How to Measure Content Marketing in 3 Steps. [pdf] Gartner for Marketers, October 2021, p. 14 (work cited)

• The preparation for the future of hybrid marketing, redefining the Chief Marketing Officer’s (CMO’s) role as the organization’s “Chief Connecting Officer” (CCO, who connects Customers, Employees, Brand, Partners, and Channels), and building holistic marketing measurement on the basis of a hierarchy of marketing metrics (as described in the below figure), focusing on both return on investment, and return on objectives (Gartner c, 2021).

Figure no. 2: Building Holistic Marketing Measurement Source: Arora, A., Hjartar, K., McGuire, J., Villareal, O. and Zemmel, R., 2021. Open-source e-commerce: The next wave of value for the enterprise. [pdf] McKinsey & Company, McKinsey Digital, October 2021, p. 3 (work cited) Holistic Marketing Management

According to Gartner’s CMO Spend Survey 2021 (Virzi, 2021), in order to advance brand strategy, innovation and overall strategy development CMOs must recruit and retain talent, adapting accordingly to these new priorities (in contrast with the list of tactical and technical capabilities brought in-house in 2020: social marketing, creative production/content marketing, and video/ podcast/photography studio production). Of course, we all have to keep in mind that talent without work, as highlighted by our great Constantin Brancusi, is nothing more than raw unfinished material.

Theodor Valentin Purcărea Editor-in-Chief

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References Gartner a, 2021. Brands Retreat Behind Walled Gardens as Data Privacy Efforts Take Root. [pdf], Gartner for Marketing Leaders, November 2021, pp. 2-4, 20. Available at: <brands-retreatbehind-walled-gardens-as-data-privacy-efforts-take-root-research.pdf> [Accessed 3 November 2021]. Gartner b, 2021. How to Measure Content Marketing in 3 Steps. [pdf] Gartner for Marketers, October 2021, p. 1-16. Available at: <cmo-chief-marketing-officer-leadershipvision_ebook.pdf> [Accessed 26 October 2021]. Gartner c, 2021. Chief Marketing Officer Leadership Vision 2022: 3 Strategic Actions for Success. [pdf] Gartner for Marketers, October 2021. Available at: <cmo-chief-marketing-officerleadership-vision_ebook.pdf> [Accessed 21 October 2021]. Nielsen, 2021. Media is complex: Three pillars can simplify measurement for marketers, Insights, Media, 10-27-2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/article/2021/media-is-complex-three-pillars-cansimplify-measurement-for-marketers/?> [Accessed 11 November 2021]. Purcarea, T., 2021. Moving forward the frontiers of the feasible, considering marketing’s digital orchestrator role, and rethinking the marketing technology ecosystem, Holistic Marketing Management, vol. 11(3), pp. 04-10, October. Virzi, A. M., 2021. CMOs Make High-Stakes Choices in Bringing Work In-House, Gartner, October 07, 2021. [online] Available at: <https://blogs.gartner.com/anna-mariavirzi/2021/10/07/cmos-make-high-stakes-choices-in-bringing-work-in-house/?_ga> [Accessed 21 October 2021]. Wilson, T., 2021. 3 ways to thrive in the age of adaptation, Marketing Analytics, Nielsen, 09-162021. [online] Available at: <https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/article/2021/3-ways-tothrive-in-the-age-of-adaptation/> [Accessed 11 November 2021]. WordPress VIP, 2021. How To Write A Content Marketing Budget And Actually Get It Approved. [pdf] Guide, November 2021, pp. 1-15. Available at: <How_to_Write_a_Content_Marketing_Budget.pdf> [Accessed 11 November 2021].

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European Retail Academy (ERA) Webinar on Sustainability, March 18-19.03.2022 Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier, President of the European Retail Academy

Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier, President of the European Retail Academy (ERA) is a distinguished Member of the Editorial Board of our “Holistic Marketing Management” Journal. The Romanian-American University (RAU) has awarded Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier a “Diploma of Special Academic Merit”. Prof. Dr. Holistic Marketing Management

Bernd Hallier is also an Honorary Member of the Romanian Distribution Committee, and distinguished Member of the Editorial Board of “Romanian Distribution Committee Magazine”. The “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, has awarded Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier a “Diploma of Excellence”.

The European Retail Academy (ERA) started in August 2008 its Subsite Environmental Retail Management to gather experiences and benchmarking in this field of activities. Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier, President of the European Retail Academy had been involved already since the mid 80’s in the optimization of packaging/recycling - but it became clear in 2008 that now all the Total Supply Chain had to be involved. More and more it became obvious that not only economics, but also ecology and ethics have to be considered for a new equilibrium of the world economy. Therefore, Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier, President of the European Retail Academy launched together with his colleagues a special student competition (for 2013) about “green issues”, creating also another Subsite: Global Green University.

Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier was also editing the results of the EU project FoRWaRd within the book of Food Waste Management. He was therefore asked by the Bocconi University to act as an Ambassador for the student competition at the Expo Milano 2015. On that special occasion Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier stated: “It is necessary to find a new equilibrium for a combination of Economy, Ecology and Ethics for Global Harmony”.

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In 2017 the European Retail Academy announced in the Preview for ANUGA (based on the preparations for the 200 years Anniversary of the University of Bonn) that the two international networks EQA (Education Qualification Alliance) and ERA (European Retail Academy) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to institutionalize a Thematic University Network (TUN) to promote holistic Research about food/health/sustainability and the Penetration of knowledge and standards along the Total Supply Chain from farm to fork. For 2019 ERA President Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier appointed Prof. Dr. Raekwon Chung, Nobel Peace Laureate 2007, from Korea. “The nomination of Prof. Chung is a support for a Global House of Harmony based on the integration of Economics, Ecology and Ethics” Hallier stated (Hall of Fame).

Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier constantly demanded fulfillment of Global Goals instead of outdated Geopolitics: “Today we should act as a Global Community of Equals knowing that we should share respectfully the resources of the one planet on which we live all. We have to optimize together a world-model of economics, ecology and ethics”.

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As the best set of tools Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier sees at the moment the UN Goals 2030, stating as follows: “Independently from political or religious views of people from different countries this is a box of instruments which can be individually selected from to define own ways of fulfillment or which also globally can be used as a benchmark to compare the status quo scientifically: it reflects and respects global diversity - but aiming a global optimization; and last but not least it allows organizations of civil society, businesses, political bodies and science to participate with its input”. Now again a new tool to promote “sustainability” is developed by the ERA-trainee Dr. Vilena Violena Hubenova Nencheva, Bulgaria who created the idea of a first ERA-Webinar being launched at March 18/19th 2022. After greeting words by Nobel Laureate Prof. Dr. Raekwon Chung, the other Keynote speakers will be B. Hallier/ERA and the European Buying Director from CHEP, E. Benzes, Germany. Other distinguished presenters from Japan, Poland, Irland, Bulgaria, Mexico, Holland etc. will join this challenging ERA Webinar on Sustainability. The Romanian-American University (RAU) will be represented at this special event by Ioan Matei Purcarea, Research Economist at RAU Department for Research, Innovation and Internationalization, Drd. at Institute of National Economy, National Research Economic Institute “Costin C. Kiriţescu” (INCE), Romanian Academy, and PR and Communication Manager at the Romanian Distribution Committee.

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Digital Maturity improved by Digital Marketing in Harmony with e-commerce Drd. Ioan Matei PURCĂREA

Abstract There are already many common words and terms in today’s digital era or technology vocabulary. Digital commerce maturity, digital engagement, digital capabilities and digital marketing, for instance, are challenging organizations to agilely reflect and adapt to shifting trends, considering the moving forward of the new customer experiences and expectations. The always new e-commerce is considered one of the oldest categories of the marketing technology landscape, and we are witnessing a true organizational challenge of building and orchestrating the next generation of commerce capabilities. Keywords: Digital Commerce Maturity; Digital Engagement; Digital Capabilities; AI Development; Digital Marketing; eCommerce JEL Classification: D83; L81; L86; M15; M31; O32; O33

Digital Commerce Maturity, Digital Engagement, Digital Capabilities and Digital Marketing improving Digital Maturity In our last HMM issue we underlined the challenge of agilely fulfilling the increasing ecommerce demand (ecommerce sector growth being a driving force behind the obvious trend of embracing Robotics and Automation), better engaging buyers in personalized digital experiences (including from the point of view of improving the last-mile delivery), and ensuring a frictionless CX on the basis of solutions playing well in the current API-first world (Purcarea, 2021). A webinar invitation from eMarketer (which organized the special event on October 27, 2021 having as keynote speakers two e-commerce leaders from PayPal and Insider Intelligence) showed that within the rising digital shopping environment (creating opportunities to rethink the E2E CX) the significant ecommerce experiences can be a differentiator. And this within the Holistic Marketing Management

context in which the connected consumers showing good judgement can be engaged based on the right omnichannel strategy that enables blending in-store with digital, including emerging technology like AR, drone deliveries, cashless transactions, QR codes etc. (eMarketer, 2021). McKinsey’s research findings presented in October 2021 revealed (while tracking changes in US consumer sentiment and behavior), for instance, the ascendence of omnichannel and consumers’ continuous shopping behavior change (including switching brands), with some generational differences (Charm et al., 2021). An October 2021 Special Report by CCW Digital, entitled “Technology Strategies to drive Exceptional CX”, highlighted how critical is today the technology strategy behind successful innovation enabling improved tech-driven CX increasingly demanded by customers (Lynch, 2021). As shown by CCW Digital, while experiencing still disconnected experiences customers are waiting for one source of truth to be offered by companies beyond the access to new channels or features, what presupposes companies’ organizational alignment allowing a successful technology strategy ensuring the creation of a clear path for improvement. It is important to remember within this framework that: • In order to both assess their current maturity, and determine a path to their organization’s ideal state Gartner clients, for instance, can use Gartner’s Digital Commerce Maturity Framework (Nascent, Developing, Intermediate, Advanced, Mastery) taking into account the organization’s strategy, culture, organization, execution, and operations (Gartner a, 2021), as shown in below figure:

Figure no. 1: Gartner’s Digital Commerce Maturity Framework Source: Gartner, 2021. Gartner One-Page Digital Commerce Maturity Framework, Gartner for Marketers (work cited) Holistic Marketing Management

• Boston Consulting Group (Rogers et al., 2021) identified three principal trends driving Digital Engagement: Demand volatility, Personalization, Privacy regulations driven by consumer expectations (as shown in figure below). The role of e-commerce within this framework is obvious, as well as the importance of cultivating and preserving customer value and trust at the core at all levels of the digital maturity curve, considering Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Roadmap to Digital Maturity (see the next figure below) in implementing both the technical (First-party data; E2E measurement) and the organizational (Agile performance loops; New skills and resources) accelerators

Figure no. 2: Three Trends Are Influencing Digital Engagement Source: Rogers, K., Pérez-Moiño, J., Leon, H. and Poncela, A., 2021. The Fast Track to Digital Marketing Maturity, Boston Consulting Group, September 07, p. 9 (work cited)

Figure no. 3: Three Trends Are Influencing Digital Engagement Source: Rogers, K., Pérez-Moiño, J., Leon, H. and Poncela, A., 2021. The Fast Track to Digital Marketing Maturity, Boston Consulting Group, September 07, p. 12 (work cited) Holistic Marketing Management

• Developed by Deloitte in partnership with the TM Forum, the first industry-standard digital maturity assessment tool (digital capability being assessed across five business dimensions – customer, strategy, technology, operations, organisation & culture – divided into 28 subdimensions, as shown in figure below) provided: guidelines for a clear path throughout the digital transformation journey; a view across all organisation’s capabilities, helping it to prioritize focus areas and improve in line with its desired outcome (Deloitte, 2018). This Deloitte approach made difference between the content (seen as being constant) of its Digital Maturity Model (DMM) and the organisation’s maturity level in each area (seen as being dependent on the organisation’s own business strategy, business model, and operating model, as shown in the next below figure).

Figure no. 4: Five core business dimensions divided into 28 sub-dimensions, which in turn breakdown into 179 individual criteria on which digital maturity is assessed Source: Deloitte, 2018. Digital Maturity Model. Achieving digital maturity to drive growth, February 2018, p. 11 (work cited)

Figure no. 5: The content of the Digital Maturity Model is constant, but the level to which an organisation needs to be mature in each area is dependent on its own business strategy, business model, and operating model Source: Deloitte, 2018. Digital Maturity Model. Achieving digital maturity to drive growth, February 2018, p. 15 (work cited) Holistic Marketing Management

• Digital strategist Dr. Dave Chaffey from Smart Insights analyzed at the beginning of December 2021 the process to review and improve digital maturity, underlining the dependence on the context of businesses’ appropriate level of maturity (Chaffey, 2021). And as the main practical focus at Smart Insights is the narrower scope of digital maturity (the center of interest being here to improve marketing communications strategy and implementation by way of better-integrating marketing campaigns and always-on digital marketing), Chaffey made reference among other aspects to the more recently created framework of the six pillars of effective digital marketing (as shown in figure below), which allow the described initiatives’ prioritization and working on to improve digital maturity. He also brought the attention on the fact that the Gartner framework is including the decisive aspect Strategy and Governance (which is missing from the Google framework).

Figure no. 6: The six pillars of effective digital marketing Source: Chaffey, D., 2021. What is your digital maturity? Smart Insights, 01 Dec, 2021 (work cited)

Digital, Mobile, and Social Media. Agilely Adapting to Shifting Trends, Considering the Moving Forward of the New CX and Expectations On the other hand, starting from today’s reality that an essential part of people’s daily lives is represented by digital, mobile, and social media, recent valuable research approached the mediating effect of brand experience (known as both including sensory, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral experiences, one hand and impacting positively brand trust, loyalty, and commitment, the other hand) on the relationship between customer motivation and engagement behavior (Chen et al., 2021). This valuable research has not only clarified customers’ motivations to use social media ( being carried out from the point of view of information seeking, entertainment, and social interaction motivation) and linked customers’ motivations with their experience using social media, but also offered practitioners (considering including customers’ psychological perceptions and social interactions on social media) a way of motivating customers to use social media on the basis of their social media experience. Holistic Marketing Management

In agilely adapting to shifting trends, marketing leaders need also to confirm their ability to better understand their own emotions and those of the people around them, in other words to demonstrate the existence of their emotional intelligence by evidence of self-awareness, selfmanagement, social awareness, and relational management, as highlighted by Brenda Ellington Booth, a clinical professor of leadership at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University (Kellogg Insight, 2021). The Feedvisor’s 2021 Amazon Consumer Behavior Report surveyed 2,000+ US Shoppers and revealed different significant aspects such as: their shopping motivations (consumers want a simple and seamless shopping journey, and an assortment of quality products, Amazon responding accordingly thanks to its powerful search algorithm and collection of quality product offerings) and tendencies; the moving forward of the new CX and expectations (90% of consumers being satisfied with Amazon’s customer service, and being known from Zendesk research that after one bad experience 50% of consumers switching to a new brand); the growing role played by Amazon and e-marketplaces in shoppers’ lives, consumers shopping now more online (57%) than before the pandemic, the top 3 destinations to start the search for new products being Amazon (62%), Google (18%) and Walmart (10%), while the top 3 destinations to go when consumers are ready to buy a product being Amazon (71%), Walmart (10%) and Google with 7% (Feedvisor, 2021). Research on price and reviews is something usual for US consumers (as shown in figure below), as well as their preference for emarketplaces (as a complete unit, Amazon, Walmart, and e-marketplaces continuing their increase in popularity) over brand and retailer websites, and when online shopping consumers’ top priorities are price and convenience.

Figure no. 7: Consumers Are Doing Their Research on Price and Reviews Source: Feedvisor, 2021. The 2021 Amazon Consumer Behavior Report: Based on a Survey of 2,000+ U.S. Shoppers, November 3, 2021, p. 8 (work cited)

In our last HMM issue we also made reference to: the acceleration of the rise in online shopping and ecommerce deliveries (the last-mile ecosystem revolution being fueled by proven Holistic Marketing Management

technologies, as highlighted by WEF; seven different delivery networks for last-mile delivery were described by the WEF report); the growth in consumers’ comfort with six stated delivery methods within the context of the supply chain disruption (as shown by Astound Commerce); the fact that the no. 1 delivery pain point for over half of retailers is last-mile delivery (as confirmed by OneRail); the in August 2021 launched Walmart’s GoLocal last-mile delivery service, The Home Depot becoming the first retailer utilizing Walmart’s network to make same- or next-day deliveries (as shown by Retail By the Numbers) etc. In September 2021, McKinsey’s research revealed the rapid evolution of food delivery, underlining that one of the most significant battlegrounds over the coming years will be represented by the geographic competition among delivery platforms, which will be under pressure to both leverage customer data to improve their users’ experience, and find innovative ways to reduce delivery costs (Ahuja et al., 2021). Within this framework there were made references to the four active players (DoorDash, Grubhub, Postmates, and Uber Eats, the playing field being slightly leveled by Uber’s 2020 acquisition of Postmates) on one of the more complex food-delivery markets, US. In October 2021, eMarketer informed of Gorillas performance, a Berlin-based grocery delivery company shipping groceries through a network of dark stores (retail distribution centers or warehouses catering exclusively to online shoppers) delivering (via last-mile couriers on fixed-term contracts) in just 10 minutes in over 50 cities, including Capital cities like London, Madrid, Paris or other great cities like New York (Goldman, 2021). And that within the context of the increasing: European competition including other European startups (such as Germany’s Flink, Turkey’s Getir, and London-based Zapp) or other international competitors like Philadelphia-based Gopuff which acquired UK delivery services Dija and Fancy; US last-mile competition (challenging traditional grocery chains to also offer faster service; The Kroger Co and DoorDash, for instance, taking measures accordingly) including Buyk, Fridge No More, Jokr, and 1520 (all of them expanding rapidly in major US markets). Consumers are getting used to 15-minute delivery once that the dark store model begin to have success, which means setting a higher standard on delivery times also for Amazon and Instacart to follow.

The new again eCommerce, one of the oldest categories of the marketing technology landscape. The challenge of building and orchestrating the next generation of commerce capabilities According to Gartner (b, 2021): “Marketing technology (also known as martech) is a set of software solutions used by marketing leaders to support mission-critical business objectives and drive innovation within their organizations. Martech solutions focus on content and customer experience, advertising, direct marketing, marketing management and marketing data and analytics”. Holistic Marketing Management

Approaching the explosion of digital commerce (within the context of COVID-19 impact on digital transformation), the reputed Scott Brinker (Conference chair of the MarTech® Conference, who also serves as the VP platform ecosystem at HubSpot) brought our attention to the fact that today’s hottest category in the marketing technology landscape is probably the commerce-related marketing technology, online purchasing and payment being embraced by buyers as the new normal (Brinker, 2021). He underlined that digital commerce platforms were the highest ranked major martech tool planned to be added to organizations’ marketing stack in the next 12 months according to the just published The Martech Report 2021/22 by the team at MarTech Alliance, as shown in the below chart. The next two podium places were occupied by the digital experience platforms (DXP, seen often as the engines through which commercerelated content and experiences are deployed), and the marketing analytics and attribution platforms. Brinker stated: “For marketing technologists and marketing operations professionals, building and orchestrating this next generation of commerce capabilities — embedded into digital experiences and backstage workflows — is going to be a massive opportunity to deliver measurable value. Directly put the revenue in revenue operations (RevOps)”.

Figure no. 8: Which major martech tools does your organization / your typical client plan to add to the marketing stack in the next 12 months Source: Brinker, S., 2021. Commerce is the latest (renewed) frontier in martech, putting the revenue in RevOps, Chief Marketing Technologist, October 2021 (work cited)

On the other hand, Dan McGaw (Founder of McGaw.io, MarTech speaker, and cofounder of analytics tools such as UTM.io, also known for his extensive work with Segment implementations) stated: “The nature of ecommerce necessitates a speedy tech stack to Holistic Marketing Management

seamlessly collect user data, transmit it to the relevant destination, and respond to customer activity in real-time. The complete customer journey and closed reporting loop that will provide a stable framework from which you can scale your business”. This statement was made recently, on the occasion of presenting “The Ecommerce Startup Guide to MarTech”, following an invitation from the Customer Data Platform (CDP) Segment (McGaw, 2021). It is also interesting to note that Martechvibe (2021), the media platform owned by Vibe Projects LLC, made reference to the following statement of the COO of US-based fashion wholesale platform OrangeShine, Abir Alameddine, who commented a McKinsey survey: “In an enterprise environment dominated by the pursuit of digital transformation, marketing technology (martech) has become an indispensable tool for gaining a competitive advantage and promoting business growth in the e-commerce sector”. It is also no less interesting the observation made by McKinsey Digital that the next wave of value for the enterprise (both for small, and large companies) is the so-called open-source e-commerce (user’s complete access to the source code to adapt and customize the platform), the evolution of open-source software (OSS) providing a good alternative for certain e-commerce features (as shown in figure below), open-source ecommerce opening the way to a more productive and innovative digital future for those companies making the necessary investments in people and processes (Arora et al., 2021).

Figure no. 9: For certain e-commerce features where speed and flexibility are important, OSS is a good alternative Source: Arora, A., Hjartar, K., McGuire, J., Villareal, O. and Zemmel, R., 2021. Open-source e-commerce: The next wave of value for the enterprise. [pdf] McKinsey & Company, McKinsey Digital, October 2021, p. 3 (work cited)

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Instead of conclusions Technologies and human capital availability are seen as fundamental for the AI development, AI usage and adoption involving technology expertise which is far from enough, hence the considerable need for data scientists and technologists to build and support companies’ mission-critical applications based on increasingly used AI technologies (Fatima et a., 2021). According to Steve Nowlan, Senior Vice President of Decision Sciences, Epsilon, AI is used in marketing to manage and optimize impressions’ delivery, being an enabling technology necessary to improve organizations’ real KPIs (Blose, C., 2021). In eCommerce, technologies using AI (Natural Language Processing, Computer Vision, Machine Learning/Deep Learning, Expert Systems, Text/Speech/Image recognition) are powering online shopping, and shopping experience is revolutionized by personalization and automation based on AI used in eCommerce, including in eCommerce apps (Honcharova, 2021). AI is redefining customer engagement in eCommerce (Kaushik, 2021), by enabling to do personalization at scale, repeating order personalization, optimizing cross-channel spend (determining which consumer prefers which channel), enabling content optimization, eliminating guesswork and marketing efficiently. The name of the game with online retailers and eCommerce marketing was changed by AI, underlined the CEO and Founder of Bookmark (an AI-powered website builder disrupting the web design industry), David Kosmayer (2021). The new marketing era is inviting to the use of AI (Smart Technology, Chatbots, CRM, Inventory Management, Image Classification). Digital Marketing (is getting people to notice your brand, by fine-tuning your campaigns and targeting the right people) and eCommerce (is allowing you to sell it and deliver it, offering or expanding a product line that will develop a lifestyle choice for customers etc.) are closely connected, being complementary (Pretty Impressive, 2021). It is a true continuous challenge to find the right balance between them. References Ahuja, K., Chandra, V., Lord, V. and Peens, C., 2021. Ordering in: The rapid evolution of food delivery, McKinsey & Company, Technology, Media & Telecommunications Practice, September 22, 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technologymedia-and-telecommunications/our-insights/ordering-in-the-rapid-evolution-of-food-delivery?> [Accessed 22 October 2021]. Arora, A., Hjartar, K., McGuire, J., Villareal, O. and Zemmel, R., 2021. Open-source ecommerce: The next wave of value for the enterprise. [pdf] McKinsey & Company, McKinsey Digital, October 2021, pp. 1-6. Available at: <open-source-e-commerce-the-next-wave-of-valuefor-the-enterprise.pdf> [Accessed 2 November 2021]. Blose, C., 2021. Teach the machines marketing, Epsilon, May 11, 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.epsilon.com/us/insights/core-content/teach-the-machines-marketing> [Accessed 12 November 2021]. Holistic Marketing Management

Brinker, S., 2021. Commerce is the latest (renewed) frontier in martech, putting the revenue in RevOps, Chief Marketing Technologist, October 2021. [online] Available at: <https://chiefmartec.com/2021/10/commerce-is-the-latest-renewed-frontier-in-martech/> [Accessed 11 November 2021]. Chaffey, D., 2021. What is your digital maturity? Smart Insights, 01 Dec, 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.smartinsights.com/manage-digital-transformation/digitaltransformation-strategy/digital-maturity/> [Accessed 3 December 2021]. Charm, T., Hwang, J., Laird, J., Lu, N., Saavedra, J. R., Leon, A., and Sancho Mazzara, D., Maiti, A., Robinson, K., and Skiles, T., 2021. US consumer sentiment and behaviors during the coronavirus crisis, McKinsey & Company, Business Functions, Marketing and Sales, October 18, 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-andsales/our-insights/survey-us-consumer-sentiment-during-the-coronavirus-crisis?> [Accessed 23 October 2021]. Chen, X., Jiao, C., Ji, R. and Li, Y., 2021. Examining Customer Motivation and Its Impact on Customer Engagement Behavior in Social Media: The Mediating Effect of Brand Experience, SAGE Open October-December 2021: 1–16. DOI: 10.1177/21582440211052256. Deloitte, 2018. Digital Maturity Model. Achieving digital maturity to drive growth, February 2018, pp. 8-11, 15, 18. [online] Available at: <https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/Technology-MediaTelecommunications/deloitte-digital-maturity-model.pdf> [Accessed 9 November 2021]. eMarketer, 2021. [A Conversation with PayPal] Blending In-Store and Digital Commerce, Fri 9:48 PM, eMarketer Webinars <webinars@emarketer.com> Special Notification on October 23, 2021. Fatima, S., Dawson, G. S., Desouza, K. C. and Denford, J. S., 2021. The people dilemma: How human capital is driving or constraining the achievement of national AI strategies, The Brookings Institution, November 10. [online] Available at: <https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2021/11/10/the-people-dilemma-how-human-capitalis-driving-or-constraining-the-achievement-of-national-ai-strategies/?> [Accessed 12 November 2021]. Feedvisor, 2021. The 2021 Amazon Consumer Behavior Report: Based on a Survey of 2,000+ U.S. Shoppers, November 3, 2021, pp. 2, 5, 7-9, 11, 13, 16. Available at: <https://feedvisor.com/resources/amazon-marketing-advertising-strategies/2021-amazonconsumer-behavior-report/> [Accessed 3 November 2021]. Gartner a, 2021. Gartner One-Page Digital Commerce Maturity Framework, Gartner for Marketers, November 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.gartner.com/en/marketing/research/digital-commerce-marketing-maturityframework> [Accessed 9 November 2021]. Gartner b, 2021. Marketing Technology, Gartner Glossary. [online] Available at: <https://www.gartner.com/en/marketing/glossary/marketing-technology> [Accessed 11 November 2021]. Holistic Marketing Management

Goldman, J., 2021. Gorillas’ $1 billion raise underscores the market opportunity for last-mile and fast grocery services, eMarketer, Oct 20, 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.emarketer.com/content/gorillas-1b-raise-represents-market-opportunity-last-milefast-grocery-services?> [Accessed 22 October 2021]. Honcharova, Y., 2021. Artificial Intelligence In eCommerce: Redefining The Future, Gepard, December 15, 2021. [online] Available at: <https://gepard.io/insights-trends/artificialintelligence-in-ecommerce> [Accessed 18 December 2021]. Kaushik, A., 2021. 5 Ways AI is Redefining Customer Engagement in E-commerce, MoEngage, 21 June 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.moengage.com/blog/5-ways-ai-is-re-defininge-commerce-customer-engagement/> [Accessed 12 November 2021]. Kellogg Insight, 2021. 4 Components of Emotional Intelligence, Research & Ideas Magazine of Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, insight@kellogg.northwestern.edu, November 03, 2021. Kosmayer, D., 2021. How to Use Online AI – Artificial Intelligence for eCommerce, OptiMonk, September 1, 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.optimonk.com/5-ways-artificialintelligence-is-taking-e-commerce-to-the-next-level/> [Accessed 12 November 2021]. Lynch, B., 2021. Special Report: Technology Strategies to drive Exceptional CX, Customer Contact Week Digital (CCW Digital), 2021 Special Report Series, report provided by Talkdesk, October 15, 2021, pp. 3, 7. Available at: <https://www.customercontactweekdigital.com/customer-experience/whitepapers/special-reporttechnology-strategies-to-drive-exceptional-cx> [Accessed 28 October 2021]. Martechvibe, 2021. The Role of MarTech in Driving eCommerce Business Performance, Martechvibe News, Staff Writer, July 15, 2021. [online] Available at: <https://martechvibe.com/news/the-role-of-martech-in-driving-ecommerce-businessperformance/> [Accessed 11 November 2021]. McGaw, D., 2021. The Ecommerce Startup Guide to MarTech: What to Track and Put in Your Stack, Segment, November 1st 2021. [online] Available at: <https://segment.com/blog/ecommerce-startup-guide/> [Accessed 11 November 2021]. Purcarea, I. M., 2021. The Impact of Robotics on E-commerce, and the Challenge of Delivering Great CX, Holistic Marketing Management, vol. 11(3), pp. 14-39, October. Pretty Impressive, 2021. E-Commerce and Digital Marketing: Your Guide to Understanding the Difference and Finding Success in the World of Online Commerce, Marketing Strategy, September 9, 2021. [online] Available at: <https://pretty-impressive.com/blog/what-is-thedifference-between-ecommerce-and-digital-marketing/> [Accessed 12 November 2021]. Rogers, K., Pérez-Moiño, J., Leon, H. and Poncela, A., 2021. The Fast Track to Digital Marketing Maturity, Boston Consulting Group, September 07, 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.bcg.com/publications/2021/the-fast-track-to-digital-marketing-maturity> [Accessed 9 November 2021].

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Congratulatory letter from Professor Peter Štarchoň on the occasion of the 30th Romanian-American University Anniversary

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‘Marketing Science and Inspirations’: Generational Marketing and Valuing and Practicing Sustainable Behaviors

Dr. Dan SMEDESCU Associate Editor of the “Holistic Marketing Management” Journal Member of the scientific association Romanian Distribution Committee

JEL Classification: Y30 A true brand of the Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia, “Marketing Science and Inspirations” Journal is continuing its dedication to come up with new marketing ideas, reconfirming the valued vocation of giving its educated, affluent and implied readers a holistic perspective on modern marketing issues. The Journal is constantly improving the brand image by maintaining the memorable connection with these highly motivated readers with purpose, always ensuring the experience desired by them. Therefore, we are continuing to witness our partners’ hard and smart work to provide to both current and new readers truly relevant and useful content on current business situations and key challenges faced by agile marketers, making marketing perspective happen.

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We were happy to receive by post the new Issue 3, Volume XVI, 2021, of our Partner Journal “Marketing Science and Inspirations”, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. As usual, the new issue of this well-known academic journal addressing to academics and practitioners covered a wide range of interesting topics in the marketing research field, such as: Holistic Marketing Management

• “Sustainability as a factor of changing marketing strategies based on the customers´ preferences in context of different generations in Slovakia”. The authors Samuel Smolka, Eva Smolková and Lucia Vilčeková underline that the need to incorporate sustainability principles into marketing strategies is representing the most up-todate challenge of modern marketing. There is a real challenge of devising marketing strategies that meet the environmental requirements and customer preferences, within the context of enterprises’ efforts to promote the principles of sustainability. Focusing on the issue of environmental marketing against the background of customer preferences and generations of consumers in Slovakia, the authors examined the preferences of different generations and demonstrated how necessary is today to implement environmental marketing principles. Research findings revealed also significant aspects regarding the assessment of ethnocentrism under the sustainability concept. • “Name discrimination – selected attributes based on the German advertising practice”. The authors Lukas Bernfried Bruns and Kevin Hümmer brought our attention to the fact that although all flanking fields have experienced deep and broad research within this framework, this type of research on name discrimination in advertising (which can be evoked through the use of names) is still at an early stage. Bruns and Hümmer showed which factors (such as stereotyping or serving stereotypes) have an influence on the perception in certain name bearers, and made a contribution to understanding and working through the problem in more detail. According to them, the use of names in advertising (classifying certain names and thus people into groups) may not be suitable if discrimination is to be excluded. The authors underlined also that as the factors and individual interdependencies were examined in Germany may therefore be different in other countries and cultures. • “Creative industries in Slovakia and their pricing strategies as the part of their marketing mix”. The author Maria Kmety Bartekova focused on the understanding of the possibilities of application of selected pricing strategies in the conditions of the creative industries in Slovakia, starting from the fact that a creative product has interesting economic aspects (conditioned by its specific parameters), the economic potential of a creative product being a way of both returning the investment in its creation, and generating profit. Hence, the economic potential is the set of economic utility – uniqueness, intellect, knowledge, talent and skills added by each participant in the process of product creation, characteristics which are making the products of the creative industries fundamentally different from those of traditional manufacturing. Consequently, the added value of a creative industry product is determined by the subjective perception of Holistic Marketing Management

consumers, (insofar as its consumption satisfies their personal needs), and not by the amount of work invested in its creation. With regard to pricing in creative industry enterprises, that results from a number of factors that determine the strategic direction of the enterprise and its output, fact which in turn influences the strategy of conceiving and creating individual prices. That is why, despite their specificities (zero price or free entry, voluntary, list-based), they are playing an important role in the strategic marketing of creative industry enterprises. The author underlined also that prices are set differently in the non-profit sector and in the for-profit sectors producing in the creative industries, what means (in terms of the marketing mix of each tool) that the pricing functions need to be considered. • “Perception of the digital influencer on Instagram and its impact on shopping behavior”. The authors Dominika Reľovská and Edita Štrbová, who focused on characterizing the way of perception of digital influencers by users of the social network Instagram., identified (through a quantitative methodological approach) the motives leading to influencers’ following and the perceived impact on the shopping behavior of Instagram users in terms of cultural, social, personal and psychological factors, as well as in terms of specific products. Reľovská and Štrbová characterize also the way followers perceive the marketing activities of influencers, and discussed the penetration of research findings in the field of social marketing and increasing the level of critical thinking and engagement of today’s young consumers. • “Development of online shopping within B2C e-commerce in the Visegrad Four countries” The authors Štefan Kráľ and Richard Fedorko highlighted that as online shopping has become an increasingly common way of shopping in recent years, it is important to evaluate and compare the development of online shopping in the Visegrad Four countries (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary). They outlined the theoretical basis of online shopping concept, described the current situation of online shopping in the EU market and the main types of goods and services purchased through the Internet. The authors outlined also (on the basis of Eurostat data) the development of online shopping in the years 2011 to 2019, and the share of online purchases in the EU market and online purchases of goods and services within the V4 countries for the given years. Research findings revealed that an increasing trend of online shopping was recorded in all countries over the period under review, with the largest increase in the Czech Republic, being also a growing share of online purchases from retailers in other EU countries, the largest increase being recorded in Hungary. And regarding the online purchases of services, year-onyear decline over the period of two years has been recorded in Slovakia.

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This new issue of the “Marketing Science and Inspirations” Journal also included other sections such as: ▪ “Marketing Briefs”: Pavel Štrach – “Environmental guilt: How to work with climate concerns in marketing”; ▪ “SHORT COMMUNICATIONS”: “Marketer of the year contest 2020 has its winner”; Holistic Marketing Management

▪ “REVIEWS”: -

Peter Štarchoň - “Kall, Jacek: Brand Metrics: Measuring Brand Efficacy along the Customer Journey”;

František Olšavský – “Sabolová, Anna, Kacera, Naďa a Nagyová, Petra: Marketing in practice”;

▪ “Dictionary of Useful Marketing Terms”, Dagmar Weberová. We always remember with pleasure that the Editor-in-Chief of the “Marketing Science and Inspirations” Journal – Professor Peter Štarchoň, Faculty of Management, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia – is also a Member of the Editorial Board of both the “Holistic Marketing Management” Journal, and of the “Romanian Distribution Committee Magazine”. On the occasion of celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the RomanianAmerican University (RAU), “Holistic Marketing Management” Journal (HMM) was awarding an HMM Diploma of Special Merit to Professor Peter Štarchoň, for outstanding contribution in the field of Holistic Marketing and Talent Management.

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It is also our honor and pleasure to remember both the significant meeting in Koln, Germany, in 2011, on the occasion of the working meeting of the European Retail Academy (ERA), and the different significant moments when the ERA President, Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier (also a Member of both above-mentioned Editorial Boards), visited the Romanian-American University.

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● Ioan-Matei PURCĂREA – Considerations regarding the effects of Industrie 4.0 on e-commerceNfrom Editorial Board

Note from the HMM Editorial Board The distinguished Professor Gheorghe Zaman, Director of the Institute for National Economy (IEN, the oldest public settlement of economic research in Romania), recommended a research paper – presented in February 2021 at IEN, Romanian Academy, National Institute for Economic Research “Costin C. Kiriţescu”, by a PhD student at IEN – for publication in the Holistic Marketing Management Journal. He also suggested that: ● The next research paper, entitled “The Effects of Industrie 4.0 on e-commerce” (presented in November 2021 at IEN) to be published in the Romanian Distribution Committee Magazine; ● Considerations regarding the research paper entitled “The Effects of Industrie 4.0 on e-commerce” (these considerations were presented on December 3, 2021 at IEN) to be published in the Holistic Marketing Management Journal.

Considerations regarding the effects of Industrie 4.0 on e-commerce Ioan-Matei PURCĂREA Abstract The considerations outlined the achievement of the following objectives: Stimulation of domestic retailers (SMEs, in the context of ongoing processes at EU level, revitalizing and modernizing small retailers, either e-commerce only or physical trade combined with ecommerce) to adopt disruptive technologies with an impact on the omnichannel retail in full expansion, stepping on the path of digital transformation, learning best practices and thus meeting the evolving expectations of increasingly connected and skilled consumers in the Holistic Marketing Management

choices made in the context of their journey to make new shopping decisions; Getting a clear picture of the E2E value chain in terms of capturing value from technology to the end customer interface (as a proactive, personal and targeted approach to customer service), harmonizing technology and data so that to ensure continuous improvement of CX - a frictionless experience, based on CX solutions that work well in a world of application programming interfaces that enable recent trends in e-commerce, with its subset of mobile commerce (given both digital disruption and digital opportunities, there is increasing pressure on companies to provide a frictionless CX); Better understanding of how ecommerce, influenced by robotic automation, involves buyers in personalized and insightful personalized digital experiences, and the impact of developing and using robotics on socalled last-mile delivery (considered to be the main painful delivery point, to the door of the buyer, for more than half of the traders), the disruptive technologies enabling the closing of the gap between expectations on accelerated deliveries and profits. Our approach identified a profound correlation: disruptive technologies (as generators of effects) and e-commerce (as fertile ground for application) seem to be symbiotic by revealing new horizons of progress, on a large scale, on the way of the human – process – technology “triptych”, which with each opening gives a new exam of the extent to which the use of design thinking of innovative goods and services by detecting the real needs of customers has led to the provision of solutions in relation to a necessary value expected by generations of consumers / users constantly learning and repositioning himself in the new normal. Maybe that's why mobile apps, for example, are expected to become the next wave of e-commerce. Keywords: E-commerce; Robotics; Industry 4.0; Industry 5.0; Artificial Intelligence; Automation; CX JEL Classification: D83; L81; L86; M15; M31; O32; O33

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Consideraţii privind efectele Industriei 4.0 asupra e-commerce Ioan-Matei PURCĂREA

CUPRINS Introducere Capitolul 1 Comerţul electronic în România Capitolul 2 Recenzia literaturii ştiinţifice 2.1. Industria 4.0 ca reprezentare a celei de a patra revoluții industriale (4RI) în producţie. Utilitatea definirii Industriei 4.0 în contrast cu 4RI. Industria 4.0 şi E-commerce – Adaptarea, modelarea şi valorificarea potenţialului disrupţiei condusă de 4RI 2.2. Comerțul electronic și digitalizarea, motor cheie al rezilienţei lanțului ofertei comerţului omnicanal. Tendința actuală în inovare în distribuție: comerțul electronic și omicanalul. Nevoia de digitalizare şi instrumentele Industriei 4.0 2.3. Comerţul electronic şi comerţul mobil. Impactul CDP, AI, Machine Learning (învățarea automată) şi Deep Learning (învățarea profundă). Accelerarea comerţului electronic şi adaptarea afacerilor la standardele Industriei 4.0 2.4. Impactul tehnologiilor disruptive în sporirea angajamentului clientului în comerţul electronic. Angajamentul clienților, un important indicator cheie de performanță (KPI). Tehnologiile imersive, fundamentale pentru viitoarele experiențe de cumpărături online 2.5. Transformarea arhitecturală a afacerii de comerţ electronic aplicând tehnologiile disruptive. Minimizarea relevanţei distanţei. Modele 3D şi AR pentru comerţul electronic confruntat cu sezonul cumpărăturilor de sărbători de final de an 2021. Studiu de caz: Nextech AR Solutions 2.6. Tehnologiile disruptive, cea mai mare provocare pentru e-commerce. Principalii factori conducători ai creşterii e-commerce. Domeniile considerate drept cele mai susceptibile de a primi asistență AI. Alegerea celei mai potrivite platforme de e-commerce 2.7. Necesitatea investiţiilor în canale şi tehnologie e-commerce. Capacitățile noilor tehnologii, utilizarea tehnologiilor disruptive și cultura adecvată pentru a implementa rapid strategia bazată pe tehnologie 2.8. Impactul roboticii asupra e-commerce. Personalizarea experienței clientului cu ajutorul AI şi ascensiunea roboticii ca serviciu. Utilizarea roboţilor de conversaţie în e-commerce pentru a crea o experienţă îmbunătățită a clienţilor. Creșterea sectorului e-commerce ca forță motrice din spatele tendinței evidente de adoptare a automatizării 2.9. Impactul dezvoltării şi utilizării roboticii asupra livrării pe ultimul kilometru. Dezvoltarea de soluții de livrare pe ultimul kilometru în România în contextul expansiunii pieței de e-commerce. Efectele tehnologiilor disruptive asupra e-commerce şi asupra vieţii noastre Capitolul 3 Metodologia cercetării Concluzii Referinţe bibliografice Holistic Marketing Management

Capitolul 1 Comerţul electronic în România În abordarea de către Comisia Europeană a statisticilor privind comerțul electronic, prin comerțul electronic se înţelege tranzacționarea de bunuri sau servicii prin rețele de calculatoare, cum ar fi internetul, prin metode special concepute în scopul primirii sau plasării comenzilor; acesta poate fi împărțit în vânzări de e-commerce (e-vânzări) și achiziții de e-commerce (eachiziții) în funcție de cum primește sau respectiv plasează comenzi o întreprindere (European Commission, 2019). Potrivit gigantului comerţului electronic (e-commerce) Amazon (2021), prin e-commerce se înţelege „cumpărarea și vânzarea de bunuri în mod electronic online”, acesta fiind: - Popular, datorită numeroaselor beneficii ale e-business (afacerea electronică), respectiv marketing pe internet, transfer electronic de fonduri, mobile commerce (m-commerce, comerț mobil); - Împărțit în două părți: ▪ cumpărături online cu amănuntul (online retail shopping) care ajung direct la consumatori prin aplicații mobile, site-uri web și chiar asistenți vocali, chat-uri, chatbot (robot de conversaţie) etc.; ▪ vânzători care fac parte din piețele online în care au loc multe vânzări de la terți. Piața online este considerată o bună platformă pentru a extinde o afacere (barierele la intrare fiind foarte scăzute și fiind necesare investiții minime pentru a începe afacerile de comerț electronic), avantajele acestei pieţe online fiind recunoscute: proces de cumpărare mai rapid; crearea de listări de magazine și produse (ceea ce vede clientul atunci când caută un articol); reducerea costurilor; publicitate și marketing la prețuri accesibile; flexibilitate pentru clienți (produsul și serviciile sunt gata 24x7, vânzătorul putându-și oferi articolul în orice loc și în orice moment, iar clientul fiind întotdeauna prezent); fără limitări de ajungere la consumatori; comparație mai rapidă de produse și preț; răspuns mai rapid la cerințele cumpărătorului/pieței; mai multe moduri de plată (de ex., un mare beneficiu al comerțului electronic este posibilitatea de recuperarea a coşului de cumpărături, dacă un cumpărător care a ajuns la pagina de finalizare a achiziției nu o finalizează, acesta putând fi notificat prin mesaje telefonice, e-mail etc. pentru a finaliza cumpărarea). La nivelul Uniunii Europene, rolul aparte care revine comerţului electronic a devenit şi mai evident: • Începând cu adoptarea finală, la data de 4 mai 2000, a Directivei privind cadrul legal al comerțului electronic (ca piatră de temelie a reglementării digitale) şi continuând cu lucrarea în mod continuu la realizarea întregului potențial al comerțului electronic: Directiva revizuită privind serviciile de plată și noile norme privind serviciile de livrare transfrontalieră a coletelor (care sunt deja în vigoare); noile reguli pentru oprirea geoblocării nejustificate; normele revizuite de protecție a consumatorilor intrate în vigoare în 2020; noi reguli de TVA pentru vânzările online de bunuri și servicii cu intrare în vigoare în 2021 etc. . • Şi continuând cu abordarea în continuare a schimbărilor și a provocărilor – care au venit după adoptarea Directivei privind comerțul electronic (care acoperă servicii precum următoarele: servicii de informații online; vânzarea online de bunuri și servicii; publicitate online; servicii profesionale; servicii de divertisment și servicii intermediare de bază, inclusiv servicii furnizate gratuit destinatarului, precum cele finanțate prin publicitate) – prin Actul legislativ Holistic Marketing Management

privind piețele digitale (DSA, bazat pe: Regulamentul privind relațiile dintre platforme și întreprinderi; Observatorul privind economia platformelor online; vasta experiență a Comisiei Europene privind respectarea legislației în materie de concurență de către piețele online), în special în legătură cu intermediarii online. Acesta având aplicabilitate în contextul în care Directiva privind comerțul electronic este cadrul legal fundamental pentru serviciile online pe piața internă, iar definirea unui cadru de comerț electronic adecvat și prevenirea discriminării neloiale împotriva consumatorilor și a întreprinderilor care accesează conținut sau cumpără bunuri și servicii online în cadrul UE constituind o parte a strategiei pieței unice digitale (European Commission, 2021). În România, potrivit Statista Dossier (2021), cel mai mare venit pe piața de comerț electronic (perioada de observație fiind 2017-2025) a fost generat de categoria de articole vestimentare, acesta generând 942.6 milioane de dolari în anul 2020 și urmează să depășească un miliard de dolari, pentru prima dată, în 2021. Pe locul al doilea s-au clasat electronicele și media, cu venituri de 727.4 milioane de dolari pentru anul 2021, categoriile de Jucării, Hobby și DIY urmând să obţină venituri de 323.2 milioane de dolari, iar cea de Alimente și Îngrijire Personală urmând să ajungă la 390.6 milioane de dolari. Prezentăm mai jos adaptarea noastră după Statista a veniturilor din comerțul electronic în România realizate în perioada 2017-2025, pe categorii de produse: Tabelul nr. 1: Venituri din comerțul electronic în România în perioada 2017-2025, pe categorii de produse

Sursa: Adaptare după Statista, 5 iulie 2021. Venituri din comerțul electronic în România în perioada 2017-2025, pe categorii de produse (op. cit.)

De asemenea, prezentăm în continuare, tot ca adaptare după Statista atât cheltuielile medii pentru cumpărături online în România (octombrie 2020), pe categorii de produse (în lei), cât şi magazinele și aplicațiile online populare pentru produse FMCG (Bunuri de larg consum) în România (octombrie 2020), pe categorii de produse (în lei).

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Tabelul nr. 2: Cheltuielile medii pentru cumpărături online în România (octombrie 2020), pe categorii de produse (în lei)

Sursa: Adaptare după Statista Tabelul nr. 3: Magazinele și aplicațiile online populare pentru produse FMCG (Bunuri de larg consum) în România (octombrie 2020), pe categorii de produse (în lei)

Sursa: Adaptare după Statista

De remarcat, totodată, că potrivit datelor furnizate recent de GPeC (Păunescu, 2021) creşterea accelerată a sectorului de e-commerce a fost confirmată nu doar prin sporirea numărului de achiziţii online, ci şi prin creşterea numărului de comercianţi online activi pe platforma eMAG Marketplace, după cum se poate observa şi din adaptarea prezentată mai jos.

Fig. nr. 1: Comerţul electronic în România Sursa: Adaptare după Păunescu, A., 2021. GPeC Romanian E-Commerce 2020 Report: 5.6 billion euro worth of online shopping, a +30% YoY growth, GPeC Blog, 08/03 (op. cit.) Fig. nr. 2: Distribuția utilizatorilor de internet din România care au făcut cumpărături online în 2020, după activitatea de e-commerce Sursa: Adaptare după Sava, J. A., 2021. E-commerce activities in Romania 2020, Statista, May 3 (op. cit.) Holistic Marketing Management

În raport cu interesul nostru de cercetare am mai considerat util să observăm atât distribuția utilizatorilor de internet din România care au făcut cumpărături online în 2020, după activitatea de e-commerce (Fig. nr. 2, adaptare după Sava, 2021), cât şi să efectuăm o comparaţie între situaţia din România (în cadrul Uniunii Europene/UE) şi ţarile clasate pe primele două locuri în UE din următoarele puncte de vedere: ▪ Achiziții online (3 luni): livrări din restaurante, lanțuri de fast-food, servicii de catering) – Fig. nr. 3; ▪ Achiziții online (3 luni): filme sau seriale ca serviciu de streaming sau descărcări – Fig. nr. 4; ▪ Achiziții online (3 luni): de la vânzători din alte țări membre ale Uniunii Europene – Fig. nr. 5; ▪ Achizitii online (3 luni) efectuate de persoane fizice: bunuri fizice – Fig. nr. 6; ▪ Achiziții online (3 luni) efectuate de către o persoană fizică: bunuri, servicii casnice, servicii de transport sau închiriere proprietate – Fig. nr. 7; ▪ Achiziții online (3 luni): polițe de asigurare, inclusiv asigurare de călătorie, de asemenea sub formă de pachet (de ex. împreună cu biletul de avion) – Fig. nr. 8; ▪ Ultima achiziție online: în cele 12 luni – Fig. nr. 9; ▪ Frecvența achizițiilor online în ultimele 3 luni: 1 sau 2 ori – Fig. nr. 10; ▪ Achizitii online (3 luni) intre 100 si 499 euro – Fig. nr. 11; ▪ Persoane fizice care, în ultimele 12 luni, nu au comandat bunuri sau servicii prin internet, deoarece preferă să facă personal cumpărăturile, prefer să vadă produsul, datorită loialitatății față de magazin sau obișnuință (până în 2019) – Fig. nr. 12; ▪ Persoane care au întâmpinat următoarea problemă la efectuarea achizițiilor prin Internet (până în 2020): Viteza de livrare mai mare decât cea indicată – Fig. nr. 13;

Fig. nr. 2: Distribuția utilizatorilor de internet din România care au făcut cumpărături online în 2020, după activitatea de e-commerce Sursa: Adaptare după Sava, J. A., 2021. E-commerce activities in Romania 2020, Statista, May 3 (op. cit.)

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Fig. nr. 3: Achiziții online (3 luni): livrări din restaurante, lanțuri de fast-food, servicii de catering) Sursa: Eurostat, E-commerce, Achiziții pe internet - bunuri sau servicii (2020-prezent)