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Top 8 e-Commerce Research Topic Ideas in 2024

Home Blog Career Top 8 e-Commerce Research Topic Ideas in 2024

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In today's digital era, eCommerce has become a booming industry, offering convenience and accessibility to consumers worldwide. Among the plethora of eCommerce websites and apps, only a few manage to achieve significant recognition and success. Ever wondered what sets these successful ventures apart from the rest? The key lies in conducting effective and insightful research.

Research plays a pivotal role in determining the trajectory of an eCommerce project towards success. When done right, it becomes the driving force behind the growth and profitability of a business. However, the process of choosing suitable eCommerce research topics is not as simple as it may seem. As you delve into the vastness of the field, you'll realize the importance of finding the right focus.

So, how can you discover the perfect research topic for your eCommerce venture? The answer is straightforward - keep reading until the end! We've compiled a comprehensive list of compelling topics that can steer your research in the right direction and pave the way for your eCommerce business's success.

How is eCommerce Growing Important Every Day?

The eCommerce industry has undergone significant transformations over the past few years, and its growth hasn't gone unnoticed. The increasing importance of eCommerce can be attributed to several factors, including:

Expanding Customer Base : The advancement of eCommerce has led to a massive increase in the number of customers participating in online shopping. Understanding and analyzing the evolving trends and preferences of these newer customers have become essential for businesses.

Convenience for Customers : One of the primary reasons for the industry's growth is the convenience it offers to customers. Online shopping portals enable people to purchase their favorite products from the comfort of their homes, contributing to the industry's popularity.

Targeted Marketing Growth: The effectiveness of targeted marketing strategies has played a crucial role in eCommerce's success. From personalized messages addressing customers by name to tailored product recommendations, such tactics have significantly enhanced customer satisfaction and contributed to the industry's expansion.

Top E-commerce Research Ideas

To ensure your eCommerce research paper captures attention and relevance, it's essential to focus on the most pertinent topics in the industry. We've compiled a list of potential topics that can significantly enhance the chances of your research paper's success: 

1. Role of Artificial Intelligence in Shaping Consumer Demand In E-commerce

Objective of the Paper: The topic emphasizes the importance of using Artificial Intelligence in shaping consumer demand in the e-commerce industry. It aims to explore how AI is utilized to provide personalized product recommendations, virtual assistants, dynamic pricing, chatbots, etc.

The paper aims to provide insights into the effectiveness of AI in influencing consumer decision-making, examining underlying mechanisms and assessing its impact on satisfaction, loyalty, and shopping experiences.

Why Choose this Topic?

The objective is to contribute towards a deeper understanding of the role of advanced AI in e-commerce and provide valuable insights for businesses and policymakers. This information will help policymakers make informed decisions and optimize their marketing strategies.

2. An Innovative E-commerce Platform Incorporating Metaverse to Live Commerce

Objective of the Paper: The paper's primary purpose is to explore the integration of the metaverse concept into e-commerce platforms and investigate its impact. The research would aim to understand how Metaverse can be leveraged to enhance and transform the typical e-commerce model.

Such e-commerce thesis topics aim to develop and assess an innovative e-commerce platform that incorporates elements like virtual reality, augmented reality, and immersive experiences into live commerce interactions. The research can also identify the hiccups one might face regarding technical requirements and ethical considerations when marrying e-commerce with Metaverse.

Metaverse has recently gained a lot of attention due to its vast advantages. If Metaverse is successfully implemented with live commerce, one can unleash the platform's full potential and use it to their advantage. This paper helps provide insights into the application of the Metaverse in creating innovative yet immersive platforms.

3. Autonomous Transaction Model For E-commerce Using Blockchain Technology

Objective of the Paper: This innovative topic helps investigate and develop a novel transaction model. The primary purpose of including blockchain in an e commerce research paper is to explore the potential of Blockchain in enabling autonomous transactions within the entire e-commerce ecosystem.

Using the study, one can design and implement an autonomous transaction model that utilizes Blockchain's decentralized and immutable nature. This would facilitate secure, transparent as well as efficient transactions in e-commerce. Such e-commerce research paper topics aim to discover how Blockchain can effectively streamline various aspects of eCommerce management , including order processing, inventory management, supply chain logistics, payment systems, etc.

This paper would significantly contribute to assessing the effectiveness of the autonomous transaction model in improving operational efficiency, cost-cutting, and mitigating funds and counterfeiting risks. This helps create a transparent e-commerce transaction ecosystem that various businesses can apply.

4. Product Advertising Recommendation in E-commerce Based on Deep Learning and Distributed Expression

Objective of the Paper: This paper helps explore and develop a sophisticated recommendation system for product advertising by utilizing deep learning techniques and distributed expression methods. The primary aim is to discover how deep learning algorithms can be applied to analyze vast amounts of data, user behavior, product information, contextual factors, etc.

One can develop recommendation systems that leverage deep learning models like CNNs, RNNs, or transformer models to get meaningful product images, descriptions, and user preferences. The research also evaluates the proposed recommendation system's performance, scalability, and privacy implications.

This paper would help gain valuable insights for companies and industries to optimize their marketing strategies which will ultimately help in improving the overall user experience.

5. Evaluating User Interface and Experience of VR in the Electronic Commerce Environment: A Hybrid Approach

Objective of the Paper: The purpose is to analyze and assess virtual reality's UI and UX aspects of virtual reality, one of the hottest topics of current times, in the context of electronic commerce. This research will help provide insights into the effectiveness and usability of VR technology in enhancing the shopping experience for consumers and the selling experience for traders.

The aim is to employ not a single method but a hybrid approach combining qualitative and quantitative research. This involves conducting user studies, usability testing, surveys, and even interviews to get hands-on data and participant feedback.

Conducting thorough research on this topic will help provide valuable information for designing and optimizing VR interfaces in e-commerce settings. Gaining the knowledge would help companies better fathom the potential of VR in e-commerce and identify areas of improvement.

6. Smart E-commerce Logistics Construction Model-based on Big Data Analytics

Objective of the Paper: To propose a probable advanced logistic construction model for e-commerce that uses big data analytics to optimize and enhance the efficiency of the entire logistics process.

The primary goal is to explore and identify how big data analytics can garner, analyze and extract essential information from vast logistics-related data in the e-commerce industry. The sources include order information, inventory data, transportation records, traffic patterns, etc.

Ultimately, the research would be used to develop an intelligent logistics construction model that could use big data analytics, including data mining machine learning, predictive analytics, and even optimization algorithms.

Why Choose this Paper?

By gathering information from real-time data, the model aims to improve accuracy, cut costs, minimize delays, and provide a seamless experience to the users. The paper would provide companies with information that would strengthen their logistics operation and help them meet the increasing demands and expectations of the eCommerce market.

7. Consumer Marketing Strategy and E-commerce in the Last Decade

Objective of the Paper: The paper helps analyze the changes in consumer marketing strategies over the last ten years. The aim is to explore the evolving trends in terms of consumer behavior, preferences, and expectations and how they have influenced marketing strategies.

The study also helps understand how digital technologies such as social media, mobile devices, and significant data analytics shape consumer behavior. It also helps recognize the best practices and successful marketing strategies various e-commerce businesses use to attract, engage and retain customers.

If one analyzes any latest research paper on e commerce, one will find data that talks about the various challenges and opportunities that businesses have faced and adopted in the last decade. Likewise, this paper will help develop and implement effective consumer marketing strategies in an e-commerce environment. It would more likely be a comprehensive guide that talks about the evolution of consumer marketing strategies and their relationship with e-commerce in the last decade.

8. E-commerce Opportunities in the 4.0 Era of Innovative Entrepreneurship Management Development

Objective of the Paper:  The purpose is to identify the various unique opportunities that arise in e-commerce as per the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The paper investigates and analyzes the multiple dimensions of eCommerce in the 4.0 era, which includes various parameters like AI, IoT, Blockchain, cloud computing, and data analytics.

The primary goal of this paper is to understand how these advanced technologies can be implemented to enhance the e-commerce platform and enable new business models.

The paper also aims to find specific growth areas, such as cross-border e-commerce, mobile commerce, and social or platform-based business models.

The paper helps in providing valuable insights for budding entrepreneurs and established businesses. It helps to understand the innovative relationship between emerging technologies and e-commerce, resulting in a conducive and sustainable environment.

How To Write An Effective E-commerce Research Paper?

Some basic steps must be followed to write an influential e-commerce research paper. They are:

  • Choose the Right Topic: Selecting a specific domain is necessary before writing a paper. Ensure the e commerce-related research topics are relevant to the current scenario and resonate with the market's current demand.
  • Conduct Thorough Research: A research paper is nothing if it is just filled with some facts everyone can find in the newspapers and magazines. As a research scholar, you need to conduct thorough research and write the paper in a way that discusses even the most critical topics excitingly.
  • Outline the Paper:  Before writing, create an outline that will act as a guide throughout the research.
  • Analyze and Interpret your Findings: Collecting data and merely representing it would not be enough. You must analyze your research findings and translate them into an actionable conclusion.
  • Revise and Edit: Even after completing the paper, you must revise the whole thing to find mistakes, if any, are present while filling in the information.

You must always remember an e-commerce paper is only effective when it has the perfect balance between in-depth analysis, clarity of expression, and an engaging writing style.

In conclusion, the realm of eCommerce is experiencing rapid and dynamic changes, making it crucial for researchers and businesses to stay updated with the latest trends and topics. In 2024 and beyond, the key to success lies in exploring intriguing research ideas that hold the potential to revolutionize customer engagement, satisfaction, and conversion rates.

The first four research topics open up numerous opportunities for delving into customer-centric approaches, allowing businesses to better understand their target audience and cater to their needs effectively. Furthermore, the fifth and sixth topics emphasize the importance of efficient logistics and supply chain management, ensuring seamless delivery solutions and practices to meet customer expectations.

The final two topics highlight the indispensable role of data analytics and AI in the eCommerce landscape. Leveraging advanced technologies in these areas can drive better decision-making, fraud detection, and overall business efficiency.

By embracing these research areas and selecting the right eCommerce research title, researchers can gain valuable insights that will help them thrive in the ever-evolving world of eCommerce. Embracing innovation and staying attuned to the shifting industry trends will be key in achieving success in this fast-paced and competitive market.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The best way to choose a topic in commerce is to research and find out the most searched topics of the current times. This homework will help you understand the market's current demands and choose your topic accordingly.

In the simplest terms, e-commerce market research is the process of collecting and studying data and information related to the e-commerce industry.

If we consider previous data, the B2C model is the most successful form of eCommerce as the B2C model targets individual consumers rather than businesses providing a more significant customer base.

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E-commerce Dissertation Topics

Published by Carmen Troy at January 10th, 2023 , Revised On August 18, 2023

Introduction

Studying e-commerce helps in understanding how online businesses work. As a student of e-commerce, you will be required to learn about the various electronic mediums that online businesses rely upon and how online operations and transactions are carried out.

Essentially, e-commerce is studying the different technologies involved in setting up an online business. These include automated data collection systems, artificial intelligence, user design, inventory management systems, electronic data interchange systems (EDI), online transactions processing, industry-specific user tools, internet marketing, supply chain management, news breaking, and electronic funds transfer, and mobile commerce.

To help you get started with brainstorming for e-commerce topic ideas, we have developed a list of the latest topics that can be used for writing your e-commerce dissertation.

PhD qualified writers of our team have developed these topics, so you can trust to use these topics for drafting your dissertation.

You may also want to start your dissertation by requesting  a brief research proposal  from our writers on any of these topics, which includes an  introduction  to the topic,  research question ,  aim and objectives ,  literature review  along with the proposed  methodology  of research to be conducted. Let us know if you need any help in getting started.

Check our  dissertation examples  to get an idea of  how to structure your dissertation .

Review the full list of  dissertation topics for 2022 here.

2022 E-commerce Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: an assessment of the geographical constraints impacting the business flow of e-commerce- a case study of amazon..

Research Aim: This study aims to find the impact of geographical constraints on the flow of e-commerce business focusing on Amazon. In this research, we will analyse how these geographical restrictions affect the flow of business. In many areas, e-commerce may drive the decline of small stores and may also affect the local producers and the global economy.

Topic 2: An investigation of the security controls and issues of e-commerce websites in the UK online environment.

Research Aim: With the development of the global economy and an increasing number of customers running their business largely through the internet or mobile has made e-commerce grow. Creating an effective strategy is the most integral part of a modern organization; however, a company must take care of the new security concerns and problems while maintaining their quality and high standard. This study will primarily focus on the security control and issues of e-commerce websites in the UK and how they cope with them to keep the data secured.

Topic 3: Google ads vs. Search ads in e-commerce- A comparative study

Research Aim: An organization may find it challenging to decide what kind of advertisement they should use for their online campaigns. This study will provide a comparative analysis of google ads and search ads and give us an understanding of both ads, focusing on which is better according to the budget of the organisation, which will help them gain a significant audience and grow the business.

Topic 4: An examination of consumer decision-making processes- A comparative study between e-commerce and m-commerce in the United Kingdom.

Research Aim: The growth of eCommerce is increasing day by day. This research aims to find the factors affecting the online purchase decision. This study will provide a comparative analysis of eCommerce and m-commerce in the UK, focusing on different factors and characteristics of both. This study will differentiate the features of eCommerce and m-commerce and identify the main factors which influence the long run of online marketing to provide better services for consumers and make them know about new business opportunities.

Topic 5: Gender Inequality in the Ecommerce Industry.

Research Aim: Women in industries are still facing substantial issues in their daily lives as well as in their professional lives; for example, salary gaps, discrimination, maternity leave are just simple examples that influence the everyday lives of thousands of individuals around the world. This study will focus on the gender inequality and biased behaviours individuals, especially women, face in the eCommerce industry.

Covid-19 E-commerce Research Topics

Topic 1: impacts of coronavirus on e-commerce.

Research Aim: The study will focus on identifying the effects of coronavirus on E-commerce.

Topic 2: Frequent E-commerce shopping during Coronavirus pandemic

Research Aim: Coronavirus has affected almost every business, including E-commerce. This study will investigate the reasons behind increasing online shopping, challenges faced by E-commerce industries, and measures taken to improve the business.

Topic 3: Contribution of E-commerce during COVID-19

Research Aim: This study will identify E-commerce industries’ contribution during the coronavirus pandemic. What safety measures have they taken to provide safe deliveries of the products? What kind of challenges they faced?

Topic 4: Offline and online shopping after COVID-19

Research Aim: This study will focus on reviewing the current positive and negative impacts on online shopping and shopping in stores and predict the future of shopping after COVID-19, listing the differences, challenges, benefits, and risks of both online and offline shopping.

E-commerce Dissertation Topics for 2021

Topic 1: impact of digital business on the economic growth of the country: a case study of xyz country.

Research Aim: This research will focus on the significance of digital business during the pandemic and its impacts, not the country’s economic growth. It is a detailed view of the future that needs to be digitalised.

Topic 2: Brand marketing through social media

Research Aim: This research aims to focus on the importance of Brand Marketing through social media by addressing various current strategies used in brand marketing.

Topic 3: Impacts of social media on customer behaviour

Research Aim: This research aims to measure social media’s impacts on customer behaviour and address various effective strategies to attract customers through social media.

Topic 4: What factors influence the consumer's buying decisions?

Research Aim: This research aims to identify factors that influence the consumer’s buying decisions

Topic 5: Black Friday sale strategy to drive sales

Research Aim: This research aims to identify how the Black Friday sale strategy is effective in driving sales. How can huge discounts benefit sellers?

Topic 6: The role of influencer marketing in increasing sale

Research Aim: Influencer Marketers impact the customer’s perception. This research aims to the role of influencer marketing in increasing sales.

Topic 7: Impact of E-marketing on consumer purchase decision: the case of the luxury industry in the UK

Research Aim: This research aims to measure E-marketing’s impact on consumer purchase decisions in the U.K luxury industry.

Topic 8: Analysis of the customer-centric marketing strategies in attaining competitive advantage for the firm and sustaining business success

Research Aim: This research focuses on attaining customer-centric marketing strategies in a competitive advantage for the firm and sustaining business success.

Topic 9: Traditional vs. digital marketing: a comparative study of the last ten years

Research Aim: This research aims to conduct a comparative study of traditional vs. digital marketing in the last ten years.

Topic 10: The impact of relationship marketing on customer loyalty: an analysis of the Honda motor

Research Aim: This research aims to assess the impact of relationship marketing on customer loyalty. An analysis of the Honda motor will be conducted as the basis of the research.

Topic 11: The importance of search engines in e-commerce

Research Aim: This research aims to identify the importance of search engines in e-commerce.

Topic 12: E-commerce company's advertising strategy-critical analysis

Research Aim: This research aims to identify the importance of an E-commerce company’s advertising strategy.

Topic 13: Importance of customer retention in E-commerce

Research Aim: This research aims to measure the importance of customer retention in E-commerce.

Topic 14: Importance of brand loyalty in internet marketing

Research Aim: This research aims to identify the importance of brand loyalty in internet marketing.

E-commerce Dissertation Topics for 2020

Topic 1: analysing the impact of e-commerce strategies on building better relationships with customers: a case study of the uk fashion industry.

Research Aim: the UK fashion industry is a fragmented zone where a large number of famous brands have been competing to gain a competitive edge through better customer relationships. For the same purpose, effective e-commerce strategies can help in building better customer relationships. Thus, the main purpose of this research will be to analyse the impact of e-commerce strategies on building better relationships with customers of the UK Fashion industry.

Topic 2: Assessing the impact of unique website attributes on consumer buying pattern: A case study of Amazon and eBay

Research Aim: The rise of information technology has led famous brands to develop unique attributes for their websites to encourage their audience to buy. One of the most notable issues of the e-commerce industry is the ever-increasing competition amongst online retailers that offer user-friendly and unique website design and UX features to achieve favourable results. The purpose of this study will be to assess the impact of website attributes on consumer buying patterns with a focus on Amazon and e-bay.

Topic 3: How does e-commerce facilitate adding value to a business: A case study of service industry in China.

Research Aim: In today’s world with tech-savvy consumers, online purchases are much higher as compared to traditional, in-store purchases. This persuades the pioneers of the service industry to add value to their business by providing e-commerce facilities to consumers. Therefore, the main purpose of this research will be to analyse how e-commerce facilitates and adds value to a business with a focus on China service industry.

Topic 4: Critical analysis of security policies and vulnerabilities of an online banking website: Identifying the challenges and remedies to improvise risk management

Research Aim: The number of internet users around the world is increasing with each passing year, however, this has also posited various security problems for online banking websites. The main purpose of this study will be to critically analyse security policies and the vulnerabilities of online banking websites, along with the identification of challenges and remedies for improvising risk management.

Topic 5: Can e-commerce help organisations build a competitive advantage over their competitors?

Research Aim: This research will talk about the role of e-commerce in helping organisations build a competitive advantage against their competitors. This research will understand how e-commerce, through advanced technology, helps businesses attain their business objective and how it helps them facilitate their customers.

Topic 6: Exploring the regulations and guidelines set out for e-commerce companies

Research Aim: This research will understand the rules and regulations set out by the government and regulating authorities to implement safe and secure e-commerce. When offering online payment services to their customers, businesses have to make sure that they comply with the laws set out by the government so that customers’ payments are safe and secure.

Topic 7: Analyzing the best security mechanisms that should be implemented by e-commerce businesses

Research Aim: When implementing e-commerce models, it is necessary for businesses to make sure that the best security mechanisms are put in place. Customers trust companies which is why they make online payments. Thus the development of secure payment gateways is vitally important to keep the trust of customers. This research will analyse the various security mechanisms available for companies and how businesses should implement them.

Topic 8: Exploring the data privacy issues in e-commerce

Research Aim: This research will be focused on trust issues surrounding e-commerce. Customers make credit card payments trusting the company and the technology in use. However, there have been instances where companies failed to protect customer data, and their privacy is compromised. Such incidents can cause the company to lose its reputation and find itself having to deal with legal issues. This study explores the various privacy issues that customers come across when buying online.

Topic 9: E-Commerce and customer retention – What role does e-commerce play?

Research Aim: This research will explore an important aspect of businesses i.e. customer retention. The study will analyse whether or not e-commerce helps businesses in retaining customers. What are the various causes and reasons people trust e-commerce and stay loyal to a brand if it does? This research will investigate all the possibilities to conclude whether e-commerce plays a role in retaining customers or not.

Topic 10: Security limitations and challenges of implementing e-commerce.

Research Aim: This research will explore the challenges and security limitations businesses have to deal with when building an e-commerce business. The study will include the various security elements that companies have to consider when implementing e-commerce models, the challenges they encounter, and the steps that they take in order to ensure the security of customers’ data as well as their own systems.

E-commerce Marketing Dissertation Topics

Their marketing and advertising strategies largely influence e-businesses. Without having a well-rounded and educated marketing strategy, an e-business in today’s cut-throat online environment will surely struggle to succeed.

Web admins and online marketing experts employ various marketing strategies to engage potential customers on social networks, banner advertisements, and paid advertisements.

The internet has played a vital role in making data available to everyone, making it possible to target customers based on their demographics and social media profiles. Thus, from these intriguing and up-to-date e-commerce marketing topics, you can choose the most suitable one for your own dissertation project.

Topic 1: E-commerce and the importance of search engine rankings for businesses

Research Aim: This research will identify the importance of search engine ranking for e-commerce businesses.

Topic 2: Investigating internet marketing strategies employed by traditional retailers

Research Aim: This research will explore and evaluate the internet marketing strategies undertaken by businesses.

Topic 3: Retaining customers by employing e-commerce: A case study of the UK fashion industry

Research Aim: This research will explore the ways through which e-commerce businesses can retain their customers. A specific focus of this study will be the UK Fashion industry.

Topic 4: Wholly online or one foot in both worlds – The advantages and disadvantages of the two commonly employed marketing strategies - online and conventional models

Research Aim: This research will aim to understand the pros and cons of two main marketing strategies employed by companies. Also, this research will study businesses that run both online and traditional businesses.

Topic 5: To investigate internet marketing strategies employed by e-commerce retailers

Research Aim: This research will understand the internet marketing strategies undertaken by e-commerce retailers.

Topic 6: Understanding the effect of customer behaviour on internet marketing strategies

Research Aim: This research will understand how internet marketing strategies change consumer behaviour.

Topic 7: Measuring the success of marketing strategy employed by new e-businesses – A case study of the UK retail industry

Research Aim: This research will aim to measure the success of marketing strategies adopted and employed by companies in the UK retail sector.

Topic 8: Measuring the success of internet marketing strategy employed by traditional businesses – A case study of the airline industry

Research Aim: This research will explore the success of internet marketing strategies employed by traditional businesses in the airline industry of the UK.

Topic 9: The role of original and plagiarism free content in today’s e-marketing strategies

Research Aim: This research will explore an important concept of internet marketing i.e. content marketing. The importance of content quality and authenticity will be evaluated in this study.

How Can ResearchProspect Help?

ResearchProspect writers can send several custom topic ideas to your email address. Once you have chosen a topic that suits your needs and interests, you can order for our dissertation outline service which will include a brief introduction to the topic, research questions , literature review , methodology , expected results , and conclusion . The dissertation outline will enable you to review the quality of our work before placing the order for our full dissertation writing service !

E-commerce Strategy Dissertation Topics

The importance and the role of an effective e-commerce strategy should never be overlooked especially when promoting a product or service. In today’s highly “technology-oriented” world, having an internet presence is considered a requirement.

A well-rounded design can help e-businesses become leaders in their respective industries. Some related topics are listed below:

Topic 1: Evaluating internet marketing strategies employed by existing e-businesses

Research Aim: This research will aim to explore the various internet marketing strategies employed by various existing businesses. The dissertation will identify the most successful online marketing strategies for the last five years in the UK e-commerce industry.

Topic 2: The challenges and opportunities for organisations migrating to the internet

Research Aim: This research will explore the challenges and opportunities that companies come across when transitioning from a traditional to an e-commerce model.

Topic 3: Accident or Design – Do we really have an internet marketing mix model/strategy that is sure to work?

Research Aim: This research will aim to explore whether we really have an internet marketing mix model/strategy that is sure to work or do online marketing strategies become successful by accident.

Topic 4: Investigating the use of customer service in e-commerce to gain a competitive advantage

Research Aim: This research will investigate the role of friendly and efficient customer services in the success of e-commerce strategy

Topic 5: Exploring the most effective aspects of e-commerce strategy in today’s world

Research Aim: This research will outline the most important qualities of an e-commerce strategy to be successful in today’s fast-moving world.

Topic 6: Exploring the various internet business value creation strategies employed by e-businesses

Research Aim: This research will explore and investigate the different internet value creation strategies adopted by e-commerce businesses.

Topic 7: Measuring performance of an e-business marketing strategy

Research Aim: This research will aim to measure the success of an e-commerce strategy implemented by an e-commerce business. This topic can be customised to focus on a specific company or a specific strategy.

Topic 8: Investigating e-business strategies employed by educational institutes in the UK

Research Aim: The educational sector has adopted e-commerce to attract students from around the world. This study will aim to investigate the e-commerce strategies implemented by educational institutes to evaluate their success.

Topic 9: Reviewing the e-business strategies employed by the UK SME’s

Research Aim: This research will compare and analyse the best e-commerce strategy implemented by SMEs in the UK.

Topic 10: How effective e-commerce strategies can help companies in building their brand reputation

Research Aim: This research will understand the various strategies implemented by companies and will conclude whether implementing them helps companies build their brand reputation.

E-commerce Security and Trust Dissertation Topics

The importance of trust and security in e-commerce has greatly increased in recent times, thanks to the growing number of threats that exist on the internet. When companies decide to implement e-commerce models, they entrust their customers that their data and privacy will be protected.

On the other hand, customers also make e-commerce payments trusting the company with their information. Thus, exploring these two essentials of e-commerce will help understand how successful companies have been in assuring customers about their security systems. Here are some commerce trust and security topics for you to choose from.

1. E-Commerce Trust Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: trust in e-commerce – reality or myth.

Research Aim: This research will explore the trust aspect of e-commerce as to whether it really exists or is just a myth.

Topic 2: Investigating data privacy issues in e-commerce and how they affect businesses

Research Aim: This research will explore the data privacy issues in the e-commerce industry and how they affect businesses.

Topic 3: Data Protection Act: Does it help in building trust in e-commerce

Research Aim: This research will understand the data protection act. It will also analyze whether or not it helps businesses to build trust. The research will explore whether changes to this act are required or not.

Topic 4: How has anti-virus technology helped the e-commerce industry?

Research Aim: This research will explore the effectiveness of anti-virus software and whether it has helped protect the e-commerce industry.

Topic 5: Investigating strategies used by retailers to build up trust among potential and existing customers

Research Aim: This research will analyse the strategies utilised by retailers in the UK to build trust among customers.

2. E-commerce Security Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: to identifying the security limitations that led to third party attacks in the past.

Research Aim: This research will analyse the past third-party attacks and will explore the reasons as to why those happened.

Topic 2: An empirical study of e-commerce security, challenges, and solutions

Research Aim: This research will discuss the basics of e-commerce security, the challenges faced by the industry and its solutions.

Topic 3: Investigating strategies employed by e-commerce businesses to enhance the security of e-commerce transactions

Research Aim: This research will aim to understand the various strategies that are employed by e-commerce businesses to enhance the security of e-commerce transactions.

Topic 4: Exploring the effectiveness of encryption in the e-commerce industry

Research Aim: This research will investigate the effectiveness of encryption and the reason why the e-commerce industry adopted it.

Topic 5: Online reputation management: Exploring how e-commerce companies in the UK fashion industry practice it

Research Aim: This research will discuss a relatively new concept, online reputation, and will explore how the UK fashion industry practices it.

E-commerce Usability Dissertation Topics

Not many e-businesses pay enough attention to the usability of their e-commerce website. It should be noted that the complex ordering and navigation system leads to higher bounce rates, leaving companies with very little or no revenue.

Companies should build a user-friendly user interface, or else visitors will prematurely give up and abandon their shopping cart. To explore this aspect of e-commerce, here are some latest research topics:

Topic 1: A comparative analysis of the usability of the world’s leading travel websites

Research Aim: This research will compare the website user interface of leading airlines such as Emirates, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, etc.

Topic 2: Evaluating the website design and structure of the leading UK retail stores

Research Aim: This research will evaluate the website design and structure of the leading retail stores in the UK.

Topic 3: Assessing the website usability and design interface of government websites in the U.A.E.

Research Aim: This research will analyse the websites user interface of government-run websites in the United Arab Emirates.

Topic 4: Reviewing user-friendly design options for an e-commerce website for an online clothing store

Research Aim: This research will explore the website UX design options that must be taken into consideration by companies to ensure user-friendliness and smooth flow.

Topic 5: An analysis of the usability of m-commerce applications

Research Aim: This research will discuss and analyse the m-commerce application of the web systems as to how they should be built, keeping user-friendliness in mind.

Topic 6: Customer preferences and behaviour: Should these be considered when building a website?

Research Aim: This research will consider two important aspects of website development – customer preferences and behaviour. The study will discuss the importance of being mindful of consumer behaviour and consumer preferences when building a brand new website.

Topic 7: The impact of poorly designed websites on a company’s revenues

Research Aim: This research will assess the effects of poorly designed websites on a company’s revenues.

Topic 8: Customer satisfaction and usability: Are they both related to the e-commerce?

Research Aim: This research will explore the most important factor related to business, i.e. customer satisfaction and how it relates to website UX designing.

Topic 9: Critically analysing the UX design technologies employed by e-commerce businesses.

Research Aim: This research will critically analyse the current technologies employed by e-commerce businesses.

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E-commerce Law Dissertation Topics

Governments across the globe have reacted slowly to technological advancements being made over the last fifty years. The lobby groups behind large profit-making organisations play a huge part in the e-commerce laws being made.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Copy Right Act are two classic examples of such laws created to protect the interests of those in power. Consequently, the benefits of the legislation are not being experienced by the general public. Thus, it is worth exploring this aspect of e-commerce. Some suggestions are provided below if you wish to base your e-commerce dissertation on law:

Topic 1: To compare the e-commerce regulations in the United States of America and the European Union for new and existing e-commerce businesses

Research Aim: This research will compare and analyse the e-commerce laws and regulations for new and existing businesses in the United States of America and the European Union,

Topic 2: The role of consumer protection laws in the development of e-commerce – The case of the UAE

Research Aim: This research will explore customer protection laws and their role in the development of e-commerce in the UAE.

Topic 3: Computer Misuse Act 1990: Is it relevant today in the e-commerce industry?

Research Aim: This research will explore the computer misuse act 1990 and whether or not it is relevant today in the e-commerce industry.

Topic 4: Exploring how Brexit will impact the e-commerce laws for companies in the UK

Research Aim: This research will explore the impact of Brexit on the e-commerce industry in the UK and whether or not there will be new laws.

Topic 5: The impact of the American Copyright Act extension on e-commerce

Research Aim: This research will explore the impact of the American Copyright Act extension on e-commerce.

Topic 6: Analysing the impact of international legislation on the e-commerce industry

Research Aim: This research will analyse the impact of international legislation on the e-commerce industry.

Topic 7: Investigating UK’s legislation concerning e-businesses and how it affects businesses

Research Aim: This research will understand how UK legislation has set out e-commerce rules and how it impacts businesses.

Topic 8: Exploring the effectiveness of e-commerce laws and legislation as a deterrent to cyber attacks.

Research Aim: This research will understand whether or not e-commerce laws and legislation act as a deterrent to computer attacks and how effective they have been.

Topic 9: The implications of the Data Protection Act 1988 for e-businesses

Research Aim: This research will aim to understand the implications of the Data Protection Act 1988 for e-commerce businesses of today.

Topic 10: An analysis of the lawfulness of the e-commerce industry

Research Aim: This research will explore in-depth the laws and legislation related to e-commerce and how well they are adopted and implemented by e-commerce businesses.

Mobile E-commerce Dissertation Topics

Studies performed on e-commerce by various researchers reveal that mobile e-commerce will be the next “big thing” in the e-commerce industry.

With smartphones being the emerging and driving force in technology, the use of the internet in today’s world is not limited only to desktops and laptops. All smartphones using android and IOS applications allow users to browse the internet.

Consequently, more and more retailers are upgrading their websites to make them responsive and friendlier to mobile visitors. In this regard, some savvy e-commerce retailers are developing delivery mechanisms that satisfy the new platform’s needs.

Thus, it will be interesting to explore this aspect of e-commerce as it will give an insight into the current e-commerce industry. Here are some interesting mobile e-commerce dissertation topics that you can choose from.:

Topic 1: Wireless security and its effectiveness in the e-commerce Industry

Research Aim: This research will explore the concept of wireless security and how it helps the e-commerce industry.

Topic 2: Analysing the use of m-commerce by customers today – Understanding their adoption pattern

Research Aim: This research will aim to understand the e-commerce adoption rate and what compels customers to move towards m-commerce.

Topic 3: Investigating m-commerce strategies employed airline sector in the UAE

Research Aim: This research will investigate the m-commerce strategies that are employed by the airline sector in the UAE.

Topic 4: Analysing m-commerce innovation in the travel sector of the UK

Research Aim: This research will analyse the quick adoption rate of m-commerce rate in the travel sector in the UK.

Topic 5: Combining the benefits of m-commerce with the benefits of traditional commerce and e-commerce – A study of any multi-national retailer

Research Aim: This research will present a comparative analysis of traditional commerce and e-commerce and how multinationals benefit from it. This topic can be customised to a country or company of your choosing.

Topic 6: The effects of m-commerce on economic development in Europe

Research Aim: There is no doubt that e-commerce and m-commerce have played a huge role in developing economies. This research will investigate the impact of m-commerce on Europe’s economic development.

Topic 7: Trust and security issues in m-commerce: How companies can overcome them

Research Aim: This research will present some major trust and security issues associated with m-commerce and explore how companies can overcome these challenges.

Topic 8: The impact of m-commerce user interface on companies’ revenues

Research Aim: This research will first understand the importance of user interface in m-commerce and will then assess its impact on the company’s profitability.

Topic 9: Understanding the role and importance of data security in m-commerce – How it can be ensured

Research Aim: Just like e-commerce, m-commerce also has its own data security issues. This research will understand the role of the importance of data security and discuss how it can be ensured.

Topic 10: Generating revenue through m-commerce – Challenges and opportunities

Research Aim: This research will understand the challenges and opportunities associated with revenue generation through m-commerce.

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Important Notes:

As a student of e-commerce looking to get good grades, it is essential to develop new ideas and experiment with existing e-commerce theories – i.e., to add value and interest in your research topic.

The field of e-commerce is vast and interrelated to so many other academic disciplines like business , marketing , management , and even project management . That is why it is imperative to create an e-commerce dissertation topic that is particular, sound, and actually solves a practical problem that may be rampant in the field.

We can’t stress how important it is to develop a logical research topic; it is the basis of your entire research. There are several significant downfalls to getting your topic wrong; your supervisor may not be interested in working on it, the topic has no academic creditability, the research may not make logical sense, and there is a possibility that the study is not viable.

This impacts your time and efforts in writing your dissertation as you may end up in the cycle of rejection at the very initial stage of the dissertation. That is why we recommend reviewing existing research to develop a topic, taking advice from your supervisor, and even asking for help in this particular stage of your dissertation.

While developing a research topic, keeping our advice in mind will allow you to pick one of the best e-commerce dissertation topics that fulfil your requirement of writing a research paper and add to the body of knowledge.

Therefore, it is recommended that when finalizing your dissertation topic, you read recently published literature to identify gaps in the research that you may help fill.

Remember- dissertation topics need to be unique, solve an identified problem, be logical, and can also be practically implemented. Take a look at some of our sample e-commerce dissertation topics to get an idea for your own dissertation.

How to Structure your E-commerce Dissertation

A well-structured dissertation can help students to achieve a high overall academic grade.

  • A Title Page
  • Acknowledgements
  • Declaration
  • Abstract: A summary of the research completed
  • Table of Contents
  • Introduction : This chapter includes the project rationale, research background, key research aims and objectives, and the research problems. An outline of the structure of a dissertation can also be added to this chapter.
  • Literature Review : This chapter presents relevant theories and frameworks by analyzing published and unpublished literature on the chosen research topic to address research questions . The purpose is to highlight and discuss the selected research area’s relative weaknesses and strengths while identifying any research gaps. Break down the topic and key terms that can positively impact your dissertation and your tutor.
  • Methodology : The data collection and analysis methods and techniques employed by the researcher are presented in the Methodology chapter, which usually includes research design , research philosophy, research limitations, code of conduct, ethical consideration, data collection methods, and data analysis strategy .
  • Findings and Analysis : Findings of the research are analyzed in detail under the Findings and Analysis chapter. All key findings/results are outlined in this chapter without interpreting the data or drawing any conclusions. It can be useful to include graphs, charts, and tables in this chapter to identify meaningful trends and relationships.
  • Discussion and Conclusion : The researcher presents his interpretation of the results in this chapter and states whether the research hypothesis has been verified or not. An essential aspect of this section is establishing the link between the results and evidence from the literature. Recommendations with regards to the implications of the findings and directions for the future may also be provided. Finally, a summary of the overall research, along with final judgments, opinions, and comments, must be included in the form of suggestions for improvement.
  • References : Make sure to complete this following your University’s requirements
  • Bibliography
  • Appendices : Any additional information, diagrams, and graphs used to complete the dissertation but not part of the dissertation should be included in the Appendices chapter. Essentially, the purpose is to expand the information/data.

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How to find dissertation topics about e-commerce.

For E-commerce dissertation topics:

  • Examine emerging trends in online business.
  • Investigate consumer behavior and preferences.
  • Analyze impacts of technology on E-commerce.
  • Explore security and privacy concerns.
  • Study E-commerce strategies and marketing.
  • Choose a specific area aligning with your expertise and curiosity.

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How E-Commerce Fits into Retail’s Post-Pandemic Future

  • Kathy Gramling,
  • Jeff Orschell,
  • Joshua Chernoff

research topics about e commerce

New data from Ernst & Young suggests it will be an important part of the consumer experience — but not everything.

The pandemic has changed consumer behavior in big and small ways — and retailers are responding in kind. Since the early days of the pandemic Ernst & Young has been tracking these shifting trends using the EY Future Consumer Index and EY embryonic platform, which show a significant and widespread industry shift toward e-commerce. In this article, the authors suggest that while e-commerce will continue to be an essential element of retail strategy, the future success of retailers will ultimately depend on creating a cohesive customer experience, both online and in stores.

If we have learned one thing from the past year, it’s that things can change in an instant — changes we thought we had years to prepare for, behaviors we assumed we’d stick to forever, expectations we have of ourselves and our organizations. This is true of the way we live, the way we work, and the way we shop and buy as consumers.

research topics about e commerce

  • KG Kathy Gramling is EY Americas Consumer Industry Markets Leader
  • JO Jeff Orschell is EY Americas Consumer Retail Leader
  • JC Joshua Chernoff is EY-Parthenon Americas Managing Director

Partner Center

20 years of Electronic Commerce Research

  • Published: 29 March 2021
  • Volume 21 , pages 1–40, ( 2021 )

Cite this article

research topics about e commerce

  • Satish Kumar   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5200-1476 1 ,
  • Weng Marc Lim 2 , 3 ,
  • Nitesh Pandey 1 &
  • J. Christopher Westland 4  

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114 Citations

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2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of Electronic Commerce Research ( ECR ). The journal has changed substantially over its life, reflecting the wider changes in the tools and commercial focus of electronic commerce. ECR ’s early focus was telecommunications and electronic commerce. After reorganization and new editorship in 2014, that focus expanded to embrace emerging tools, business models, and applications in electronic commerce, with an emphasis on the innovations and the vibrant growth of electronic commerce in Asia. Over this time, ECR ’s impact and volume of publications have grown rapidly, and ECR is considered one of the premier journals in its discipline. This invited research summarizes the evolution of ECR ’s research focus over its history.

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Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.

1 Introduction

The year 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of Electronic Commerce Research ( ECR ). The journal has changed substantially over its life, reflecting the wider changes in the tools and commercial focus of electronic commerce. ECR ’s early focus was on telecommunications and electronic commerce. After reorganization and new editorship in 2014, that focus expanded to embrace emerging tools, business models, and applications in electronic commerce, with an emphasis on emerging technologies and the vibrant growth of electronic commerce in Asia. Over these years, ECR has steadily improved its stature and impact, as evidenced through various quantitative (e.g., citations, impact factors) and qualitative (e.g., peer-informed journal ranks) measures. According to Clarivate Analytics, ECR ’s impact factor in 2019 was 2.507, Footnote 1 which means that articles published in ECR between 2017 and 2018 received an average of 2.507 citations from journals indexed in Web of Science in 2019. The five-year impact factor of ECR was 2.643, 1 which indicates that articles published in ECR between 2014 and 2018 received an average of 2.643 citations from Web of Science-indexed journals in 2019. According to Scopus, ECR ’s CiteScore was 4.3, Footnote 2 which implies that articles published in ECR between 2016 and 2019 received an average of 4.3 citations from journals indexed in Scopus in 2019. The source normalized impact per paper (SNIP) of ECR was 1.962, which suggests that the average citations received by articles in the journal is 1.962 times the average citations received by articles in the same subject area of Scopus-indexed journals in 2019. Apart from these quantitative measures, ECR has also been rated highly by peers in the field, as seen through journal quality lists. For example, ECR has been consistently ranked as an “A” journal by the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA 2010) and the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC 2013, 2016, 2019) journal ranking lists.

This research presents a 20-year retrospective bibliometric analysis of the evolution of context and focus of ECR ’s articles [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]. To curate a rich bibliometric overview of ECR ’s scientific achievements, this study explores seven research questions (RQ) which are commonly asked by both authors and our Editorial Board members:

RQ1. What is the trend of publication and citation in ECR ?

RQ2. Who are the most prolific contributors (authors, institutions, and countries) in ECR ?

RQ3. What are the most influential publications in ECR ?

RQ4. Where have ECR publications been cited the most?

RQ5. What is the trend of collaboration in ECR ?

RQ6. Who are the most important constituents of the collaboration network in ECR ?

RQ7. What are the major research themes in ECR ?

A bibliometric analysis can offer a broad, systematic overview of the literature to delineate the evolution of electronic commerce technologies, and point the direction to trending topics and methodologies [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Our research is organized as follows. Section  2 outlines our bibliometric methodology. Section  3 goes on to performance analysis to uncover contributor and journal performance trends (RQ1–RQ4), the co-authorship analysis performed to unpack collaboration and constituent characteristics (RQ5–RQ6), and the bibliometric coupling and keyword analyses used to reveal the major themes and trends within the ECR corpus (RQ7). Section  4 applies graph theoretic analysis. Section  5 applies cluster analysis. Section 6 applies thematic analysis. Finally, we conclude the study with key takeaways from this retrospective.

2 Methodology

Bibliometric methodologies apply graph theoretic and statistical tools for analysis of bibliographic data [ 15 ] and include performance analysis and science mapping [ 16 ]. To answer research question 1 to research question 4, this study uses performance analysis to measure the output of authors’ productivity and impact, with productivity measured using publications per year, and impact measured using citations per year. We begin by measuring the productivity and impact of ECR , and then the productivity and impact of authors, institutions, and countries using both publications and citations per year metrics on top of ancillary measures such as citations per publication and h -index. Finally, we measure the impact of ECR articles using citations and shed light on prominent publication outlets citing ECR articles.

To answer research question 5 to research question 7, this study uses co-authorship, bibliographic coupling, and keyword analyses. We begin by conducting a co-authorship analysis, which is a network-based analysis that scrutinizes the relationships among journal contributors [ 17 ]. Next, we perform bibliographic coupling to obtain the major themes within the ECR corpus. The assumption of bibliographic coupling connotes that two documents would be similar in content if they share similar references [ 18 , 19 ]. Using article references, a network was created, wherein shared references were assigned with edge weights and documents were denoted with nodes. The documents were divided into thematic clusters using the Newman and Girvan [ 20 ] algorithm. Finally, we track the development of themes throughout different time periods using a temporal keyword analysis. The assumption of this analysis suggest that keywords are representative of the author’s intent [ 21 ] and thus important for understanding the prominence of themes pursued by authors across different time periods. Indeed, we found that these bibliometric methods complement each other relatively well, as bibliographic coupling was useful to locate general themes while keywords were useful to understand specific topics.

To acquire bibliographic data of ECR articles for the bibliometric analyses mentioned above, this study uses the Scopus database, which is one of the largest academic database that is almost 60% larger than the Web of Science [ 21 ]. Past research has also indicated that the citations presented within the Scopus database correlate more with expert judgement as compared to Google Scholar and Web of Science [ 22 ]. We begin by conducting a source search for “ Electronic Commerce Research ,” which resulted in 927 articles, and after filtering out non- ECR articles, we obtain a list of 516 ECR articles (see Fig.  1 ). However, ECR only gained Scopus indexation in 2005, and thus, only 443 ECR articles (2005–2020) contained full bibliometric data, whereas the remaining 73 ECR articles (2001–2004) contained only partial bibliometric data (e.g., no affiliation, abstract, and keyword entry). All 516 ECR articles were fetched and included in the performance analysis as partial bibliometric data was sufficient, but only 443 ECR articles were included in science mapping (e.g., co-authorship, bibliographic coupling, and keyword analyses using VOSviewer [ 23 ] and Gephi [ 24 ]) as full bibliometric data was required. This collection of articles met the minimum sample size of 200 articles for bibliometric analysis recommended by Rogers, Szomszor, and Adams [ 25 ].

figure 1

Research design. Note Bibliometric analysis was conducted for only 443 (primary) documents as 73 (secondary) documents lack full data (affiliation, abstract and keywords)

3 Performance analysis: productivity and impact

The publication and citation trends of ECR between 2001 and 2020 are presented in Fig.  2 (RQ1). In terms of publication, the number of articles published in ECR has grown from 20 articles per year in 2001 to 81 articles per year in 2020, with an average annual growth rate of 7.64%. In terms of citations, the number of citations that ECR articles received has grown from three citations in 2001 to 1219 citations in 2020, with an average annual growth rate of 37.19%. These statistics suggest that ECR ’s publications and citations have seen exponential growth since its inception, and that the journal’s citations have grown at a much faster rate than its publication, which is very positive.

figure 2

Annual publication and citation structure of ECR

3.2 Authors

The most prolific authors in ECR between 2001 and 2020 are presented in Table 1 (RQ2). The most prolific author is Jian Mou, who has published six articles in ECR , which have garnered a total of 95 citations. This is followed by Yan-Ping Liu and Liyi Zhang, who have published three articles each in ECR , which have received a total of 46 and 42 citations, respectively. Among the top 20 contributors, the author with the highest citation average per publication is Katina Michael (TC/TP and TC/TCP = 59 citations), who is followed closely by Yue Guo (TC/TP and TC/TCP = 51 citations); they are the only two authors who have an average citation greater than 50 for their ECR articles.

3.3 Institutions

The most prolific institutions for ECR between 2001 and 2020 are presented in Table 2 (RQ2). IBM, with 14 articles and 371 citations, emerges as the highest contributing institution to ECR . It is surprising yet encouraging to see a high number of contributions coming from practice, which reflects the ECR ’s receptiveness to publish industry-relevant research. Nonetheless, it is worth mentioning that this contribution is derived from the collective effort of IBM’s research labs around the world (e.g., Delhi, Haifa, and New York)—a unique advantage that most higher education institutions do not enjoy unless they have full-fledged research-active international branch campuses around the world. The second and third most contributing institutions are Nanjing University and Xi’an Jiaotong University, with 11 and 10 articles that have been cited 116 and 29 times, respectively. This is yet another interesting observation, as the contributions by Chinese institutions suggest that ECR is a truly international journal despite its origins and operations stemming in the United States. Finally, the University of California (TC/TP and TC/TCP = 34.86 citations) emerges as the institution that averages the most citations per publication, followed by IBM (TC/TP and TC/TCP = 26.50 citations) and Texas Tech University (TC/TP and TC/TCP = 26.20 citations).

3.4 Countries

The most prolific countries in ECR between 2001 and 2020 are presented in Table 3 (RQ2). China emerges as the most prolific contributor, with 152 articles and 1066 citations. This is followed by the United States, which has contributed 143 articles and 2813 citations. No country other than China and the United States has contributed more than 50 articles to ECR . Nevertheless, it is important to note that ECR also receives contributions from many countries around the world, as the remaining ± 50% of contributions in the top 20 list comes from 18 different countries across Asia, Europe, and Oceania.

3.5 Articles

The most cited articles in ECR between 2001 and 2020 are presented in Table 4 (RQ3). The most cited article published in ECR during this period is Füller et al.’s [ 26 ] article on the role of virtual communities in new product development (TC = 270). This is followed by Sotiriadis and van Zyl’s [ 27 ] article on electronic word of mouth and its effects on the tourism industry (TC = 188), Nonnecke et al.’s [ 28 ] article on the phenomena of ‘lurking’ in online communities (TC = 185), Lehdonvirta’s [ 29 ] article on the factors that drive virtual product purchases (TC = 170), and Bae and Lee’s [ 30 ] article on the effect of gender on consumer perception of online reviews (TC = 125). The diversity of topics in the most cited articles indicate that electronic commerce is indeed a multi-faceted subject, which we will explore in detail in the later sections.

3.6 Publication outlets

The publication outlets that have cited ECR articles the most between 2001 and 2020 are presented in Table 5 (RQ4). The list includes many prestigious journals such as International Journal of Information Management (ABDC = A*, IF = 8.210), Information and Management (ABDC = A*, IF = 5.155), and Decision Support Systems (ABDC = A*, IF = 4.721), among others. The presence of such reputed journals reflects ECR ’s own reputation of high standing among its peers. Apart from ECR , the publication outlets that have highly cited ECR include Lecture Notes in Computer Science including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics (TC = 218), Computers in Human Behavior (TC = 95), and ACM International Conference Proceeding Series (TC = 88), which reflect the diversity in publication outlets that ECR is making an impact (e.g., book, conference, journal).

4 Co-authorship analysis: scientific network

4.1 co-authorship.

The co-authorships in ECR between 2005 and 2020 are presented in Table 6 (RQ5). On the one hand, the co-authorship analysis shows that the share of articles written by a single author has gone down over the years from 10.94% (2005–2008) to 8.61% (2017–2020). The small and decreasing share of single-authored articles do not come as a surprise given the importance and proliferation of collaboration to address increasing thematic and methodological complexity in research [ 31 ]. On the other hand, the co-authorship analysis shows that multi-authored articles have increased their share in ECR , especially articles with three authors or more. In particular, the share of articles with three and five or more authors have increased from 31.25% and 4.69% between 2005 and 2008 to 34.45% and 14.35% between 2017 and 2020, respectively. These statistics suggests that collaboration is growing in prominence, which is consistent with recent observations reported by other premier journals in business [ 32 , 33 , 34 ], and that ECR is a good home for collaborative research.

4.2 Network centrality

The most important authors, institutions, and countries across different measures of centrality are presented in Table 7 (RQ6). In this study, we employ four measures of centrality: degree of centrality, betweenness centrality, closeness centrality, and eigen centrality.

In essence, degree of centrality refers to the number of relational ties a node has in a network. In contrast, betweenness centrality refers to a node’s ability to connect otherwise unconnected groups of nodes, wherein nodes act as a gateway for the flow of information. Whereas, closeness centrality refers to a node’s closeness to every other node in the network, whereby nodes that reflect a greater number of shortest paths than others in a network indicates the ability of those nodes to transmit information and knowledge across the network with relative ease. Finally, eigen centrality refers to a node’s relative importance in a network, whereby nodes that are connected to other highly connected nodes are crucial to information transfer.

In terms of authors, Jian Mou emerged as the most important author for degree of centrality and betweenness centrality, whereas Xin Luo and Jian-xin Wang were flagged as the most important authors for closeness centrality and eigen centrality, respectively. In terms of institutions, Renmin University emerged as the most important institution for degree centrality and betweenness centrality, whereas the University of Ottawa was rated as the most important institution for closeness centrality and eigen centrality. In terms of countries, China emerged as the most important country for betweenness centrality, whereas the United States emerged as the most important country for the other three measures of centrality. Collectively, these findings indicate the most important constituents for degree of centrality, betweenness centrality, closeness centrality, and eigen centrality in terms of authors, institutions, and countries.

4.3 Collaboration network

The author collaboration network in Fig.  3 indicates that authors groups in ECR are fairly separated from each other, especially among highly connected authors (more than five links in the network). This suggests that most authors in ECR chose to work in a single team rather than across multiple teams. The institution collaboration network in Fig.  4 reaffirms our earlier finding that Renmin University is indeed the most important constituent of the network, especially among highly connected institutions (more than five links in the network). The institution collaboration network also appears to be more complex than the author collaboration network, wherein institutions appear to be far more connected to each other, indicating a good degree of collaboration across institutional lines. The country network in Fig.  5 presents a similar network scenario, where countries appear to be fairly well connected, with the United States being at the center of the country-level collaboration network. These findings suggest that ECR authors collaborate more actively across institutions and countries than teams.

figure 3

Author co-authorship network. Note Threshold for inclusion is five or more links in the network

figure 4

Institution co-authorship network. Note Threshold for inclusion is five or more links in the network

figure 5

Country co-authorship network. Note Threshold for inclusion is five or more links in the network

5 Bibliographic coupling: thematic clusters

Bibliographic coupling is applied to unpack the major clusters (themes) within the ECR corpus. The method is predicated on the assumption that documents that share the same references are similar in content [ 18 , 35 ]. The application of bibliographic coupling on 443 ECR articles resulted in the formation of 30 clusters, wherein 11 major clusters were identified. The 11 major clusters, which contained 401 (or 90.5%) ECR articles, were ordered based on number of publications and average publication years, with more recent clusters ordered before older clusters in the case of clusters sharing the same number of publications. The summary of the 11 major clusters, which take center stage in this study, is presented in Table 8 .

5.1 Cluster #1: online privacy and security

Cluster #1 contains 74 articles that have been cited 963 times with an average publication year of 2013.09. The most cited article in this cluster is Zarmpou et al.’s [ 36 ] article on the adoption of mobile services. This is followed by Chaudhry et al.’s [ 37 ] article on user encryption schemes for e-payment systems, and Antoniou and Batten’s [ 38 ] article on purchaser’s privacy and trust in online transactions. Other articles in this cluster have considered topics such as e-commerce trust models [ 39 ], consumer privacy [ 40 ], cybercrime and cybersecurity issues [ 41 ], gender differences [ 42 ], and the development and implementation of various authentication systems [ 43 , 44 ]. Thus, ECR articles in this cluster appear to be centered on online privacy and security issues , including equivalent solutions for improved authentication and encryption to improve trust in electronic commerce.

5.2 Cluster #2: online channels and optimization

Cluster #2 contains 49 articles that have been cited 415 times with an average publication year of 2016.67. The most cited article in this cluster is Jeffrey and Hodge’s [ 45 ] article on impulse purchases in online shopping. This is followed by Biller et al.’s [ 46 ] article on dynamic pricing for online retailing in the automotive industry, and Yan’s [ 47 ] article on profit sharing and firm performance in manufacturer-retailer dual-channel supply chains. Other articles in this cluster have examined online channels such as peer-to-peer networks and social commerce [ 48 , 49 ] and optimal supply chain configuration [ 50 , 51 ]. Thus, ECR articles in this cluster appear to be concentrated on online channels and optimization , particularly in terms of the channel characteristics and price and supply chain optimization in electronic commerce.

5.3 Cluster #3: online engagement and preferences

Cluster #3 contains 49 articles that have been cited 982 times with an average publication year of 2013.98. The most cited article in this cluster is Nonnecke et al.’s [ 28 ] article on online community participation. This is followed by Sila’s [ 52 ] article on business-to-business electronic commerce technologies, and Ozok and Wei’s [ 53 ] article on consumer preferences of using mobile and stationary devices. Other articles in this cluster have explored topics such as online community participation and social impact across countries [ 54 ], online opinions across regions and its impact on consumer preferences [ 55 , 56 ], content and context factors [ 57 ], data mining techniques [ 58 ], and recommender systems and their application in online environments [ 59 , 60 ]. Thus, ECR articles in this cluster appear to be focused on online engagement and preferences , including the adoption and usage of technology (e.g., data mining, recommender systems) to curate engagement and shape preferences among target customers in electronic commerce.

5.4 Cluster #4: online market sentiments and analyses

Cluster #4 contains 41 articles that have been cited 198 times. This cluster has the highest average publication year among the 11 major clusters (2018.56), which indicates that most articles in this cluster are fairly recent. The most cited article in this cluster is Zhou’s [ 61 ] article on multi-layer affective modeling of emotions in the online environment. This is followed by Suki’s [ 62 ] article on online consumer shopping insights, and Chen et al.’s [ 63 ] article on information markets. Other articles in this cluster have investigated topics such as Internet queries and marketplace prediction [ 64 ], cross-border electronic commerce using the information systems success model [ 65 ], and electronic [ 66 ] and social [ 67 ] commerce using big data. Thus, ECR articles in this cluster appear to be centered on online market sentiments and analyses , with the use of advanced modeling techniques to unpack fresh insights on electronic commerce being relatively prominent.

5.5 Cluster #5: online reviews and ratings

Cluster #5 contains 40 articles that have been cited 611 times with an average publication year of 2017.28. The most cited article in this cluster is Bae and Lee’s [ 30 ] article on online consumer reviews across gender. This is followed by Flanagin et al.’s [ 68 ] article on user-generated online ratings, and Fairlie’s [ 69 ] on the digital divide in online access, which speaks to the technological infrastructure required to post and respond to online reviews and ratings. Other articles in this cluster have examined quantitative and qualitative feedback in online environments [ 70 ], electronic word of mouth platforms and persuasiveness [ 71 ], online reviews and product innovation [ 72 ] , recommender systems and product ranking [ 73 ], and online rating determinants [ 74 ]. Thus, ECR articles in this cluster appear to be concentrated on online reviews and ratings , including its potential differences among consumers coming from different demographic backgrounds.

5.6 Cluster #6: online exchanges and transactions

Cluster #6 contains 34 articles that have been cited 320 times with an average publication year of 2011.29. The most cited article in this cluster is Narayanasamy et al.’s [ 75 ] article on the adoption and concerns of e-finance. This is followed by Dumas et al.’s [ 76 ] article on bidding agents in e-auction, and Marinč’s [ 77 ] article on the impact of information technology on the banking industry. Other articles in this cluster have explored topics such as game theoretic aspects of search auctions [ 78 ], auction mechanism for ad space among advertisers [ 79 ], trust analysis in online procurement [ 80 ], efficiency of reverse auctions [ 81 ], and effect of hedonic and utilitarian behaviors on the e-auction behavior [ 82 ]. Thus, ECR articles in this cluster appear to be focused on online exchanges and transactions , particularly in terms of auction mechanisms and banking-related services.

5.7 Cluster #7: online media and platforms

Cluster #7 contains 30 articles that have been cited 668 times with an average publication year of 2016.23. The most cited article in this cluster is Sotiriadis and van Zyl’s [ 27 ] article on social media in the form of Twitter. This is followed by Huang and Liao’s [ 83 ] article on augmented reality interactive technology, and Hsieh et al.’s [ 84 ] article on online video persuasion in electronic commerce. Other articles in this cluster have investigated topics such as the role of social media in disseminating product information [ 85 ], the effect of video formats on person-to-person streaming [ 86 ], interpersonal relationship building using social media [ 87 ], and microblog usage [ 88 ]. Thus, ECR articles in this cluster appear to be centered on online media and platforms , particularly in terms of its variation, use, and impact in shaping consumer behavior in electronic commerce.

5.8 Cluster #8: online technology acceptance and continuance

Cluster #8 contains 26 articles that have been cited 244 times with an average publication year of 2016.37. The most cited article in this cluster is Zhou’s [ 89 ] article on the adoption of location-based services. This is followed by Chen et al.’s [ 90 ] article on the adoption of electronic customer relationship management, and Royo and Yetano’s [ 91 ] article on crowdsourcing usage in local governments. Other articles in this cluster have examined topics such as gender discrimination in online peer-to-peer lending [ 92 ], continued usage of e-auction services [ 93 ], and investor trust in peer-to-peer lending platforms [ 94 ]. Thus, ECR articles in this cluster appear to be concentrated on online technology acceptance and continuance , including determinants and discriminants that explain online technology-mediated behavior across different forms of electronic commerce such as e-auction, e-lending, e-government, and e-customer relationship management.

5.9 Cluster #9: online communities and commercialization in the virtual world

Cluster #9 contains 22 articles that have been cited 771 times with an average publication year of 2012.23. The most cited article in this cluster is Füller et al.’s [ 26 ] article on the role of virtual communities in new product development. This is followed by Lehdonvirta’s [ 29 ] article on the revenue model of virtual products, and Guo and Barnes’s [ 95 ] article on the purchase behavior of virtual products. Other articles in this cluster have investigated topics such as metaverse retailing [ 96 ], issues faced by developers of virtual worlds [ 97 ], the impact of virtual world on e-business models [ 98 ], e-commerce transactions in virtual environments [ 99 ], and customer value co-creation in virtual environments [ 26 ]. Thus, ECR articles in this cluster appear to be focused on the online communities and commercialization in the virtual world , particularly in virtual environments such as online gaming.

5.10 Cluster #10: online customer expectations, satisfaction, and loyalty

Cluster #10 contains 18 articles that have been cited 291 times with an average publication year of 2016.11. The most cited article in this cluster is Hanafizadeh and Khedmatgozar’s [ 100 ] article on consumer expectations of risk in online banking. This is followed by Valvi and Fragkos’s [ 101 ] article on purchase-centered e-loyalty, and Aloudat and Michael’s [ 102 ] article on regulatory expectations of ubiquitous mobile government. Other articles in this cluster have examined topics such as continued usage of e-services [ 103 ], determinants of e-loyalty [ 104 ] , risk expectations of e-services [ 105 ], and e-service quality implications for customer satisfaction and loyalty [ 106 ]. Thus, ECR articles in this cluster appear to be centered on online customer expectations, satisfaction, and loyalty , particularly in e-service settings such as online banking.

5.11 Cluster #11: online purchase intention

Cluster #11 contains 18 articles that have been cited 671 times with an average publication year of 2014.00. The most cited article in this cluster is Kim’s [ 107 ] article on online purchase intention using trust theory and technology acceptance model. This is followed by Gregg and Walczak’s [ 108 ] article on the effects of website quality on online purchase intention, and Taylor et al.’s [ 109 ] article on the effects of privacy concerns on online purchase intention. Other articles in this cluster have explored topics that either reaffirm the findings of the highly cited articles in this cluster, such as privacy concerns and personalization [ 109 , 110 ], or that extend the breadth of cluster coverage, such as store image [ 111 ], risk, and trust [ 112 ] as determinants of online purchase intention. Thus, ECR articles in this cluster appear to be concentrated on online purchase intentions , particularly in terms of its multi-faceted determinants that avail or transpire in electronic commerce.

6 Temporal keyword analysis: thematic evolution

Building on the thematic clusters uncovered using bibliographic coupling (see Fig.  6 ), this study performs a temporal keyword analysis to unpack the development of themes and its evolutionary trajectory in ECR over time.

figure 6

Period wise publication trend in major clusters. Note Cluster #1 = online privacy and security. Cluster #2 = online channels and optimization. Cluster #3 = online engagement and preferences. Cluster #4 = online market sentiments and analyses. Cluster #5 = online reviews and ratings. Cluster #6 = online exchanges and transactions. Cluster #7 = online media and platforms. Cluster #8 = online technology acceptance and continuance. Cluster #9 = online communities and commercialization in the virtual world. Cluster #10 = online customer expectations, satisfaction, and loyalty. Cluster #11 = online purchase intention

6.1 Thematic development from 2005 to 2008

Most ECR articles between 2005 and 2008 appear in Clusters #1, #3, and #6 (see Fig.  6 ), which indicate research concentration on online privacy and security, online engagement and preferences, and online exchanges and transactions. The keyword network in Fig.  7 confirms this observation. Apart from general keywords such as “e-commerce,” keywords such as “cryptography,” “privacy,” and “security” relate directly to the theme of Cluster #1, which is about online privacy and security. The prominence of the word “cryptography” indicates the popularity and importance of the topic during this period. Other keywords such as “auctions,” “online auctions,” and “bidding strategies” relate to the theme of Cluster #6, which is about online exchanges and transactions, with particular focus on online auction and banking. Other keywords such as “collaborative filtering,” “online communities,” and “mobile commerce” relate to the theme of Cluster #3, which is about online engagement and preferences. The bigger and bolder keywords observed in Clusters #1 and #3 suggest that the direct benefits and costs of electronic commerce were most pertinent in the early stages of ECR , with the augmented aspects of electronic commerce in Cluster #6 emerging closely behind the two leading clusters in this period.

figure 7

Keyword network between 2005 and 2008. Note Threshold for inclusion is a minimum of two occurrences

6.2 Thematic development from 2009 to 2012

Most ECR articles between 2009 and 2012 are located in Cluster #1 (see Fig.  6 ), which reveal the continued pertinence of research concentrating on online privacy and security during this period. Nonetheless, ECR experienced a substantial growth in research focusing on online media and platforms, online communities and commercialization in the virtual world, online customer expectations, satisfaction, and loyalty, and online purchase intention, as seen through ECR articles in Clusters #7, #9, #10, and #11 during this period. The keyword network in Fig.  8 adds to this observation. In particular, keywords such as “security,” “payment protocol,” and “trust management” relate to the theme of Cluster #1 on online privacy and security, whereas keywords such as “metaverses,” “second life,” “virtual reality,” and “virtual world” speak to the emergence of online communities and commercialization in the virtual world characterizing Cluster #9. Similarly, keywords such as “reputation” and “trust” are important to online customer expectations, satisfaction, and loyalty (Cluster #10) and their online purchase intention (Cluster #11). Interestingly, though Cluster #7 emerged during this period, we did not observe any unique or specific keywords relating to this cluster, which may be attributed to online media and platform research early focus on its “adoption,” a keyword that we felt resonates more with Cluster #8.

figure 8

Keyword network between 2009 and 2012. Note Threshold for inclusion is a minimum of two occurrences

6.3 Thematic development from 2013 to 2016

Most ECR articles between 2013 and 2016 continue to be situated in Cluster #1 (see Fig.  6 ), which suggest the continued pertinence of research concentrating on online privacy and security during this period. Nonetheless, there are a number of clusters that saw noteworthy growth, such as Clusters #2, #5, #7, #8, and #10, which indicate that research attention has also been invested in topics related to online channels and optimization, online reviews and ratings, online media and platforms, online technology acceptance and continuance, and online customer expectations, satisfaction, and loyalty. The keyword network in Fig.  9 supports this observation. More specifically, keywords such as “personal information” and “privacy” indicate continued research in Cluster #1, though it appears that the focus has shifted from authentication and security mechanisms to privacy matters, which may be attributed to the rise of personalized and targeted online marketing activities (e.g., tracking of user activity for personalized advertisements). Whereas, keywords such as “B2C e-commerce” and “e-government” denote emerging interest in online channels and optimization (Cluster #2), “electronic word of mouth” indicates growing interest in online reviews and ratings (Cluster #5), “cloud computing,” “IPTV,” and “social media” reveal increasing interest in online media and platforms (Cluster #7), “information technology,” “technology adoption,” and “technology acceptance model” speak to research on online technology acceptance and continuance (Cluster #8), and “product type,” “quality of service,” and “user satisfaction” resonate with research on online customer expectations, satisfaction, and loyalty (Cluster #10).

figure 9

Keyword network between 2013 and 2016. Note Threshold for inclusion is a minimum of two occurrences

6.4 Thematic development from 2017 to 2020

Most ECR articles between 2017 and 2020 are located in Cluster #4 (see Fig.  6 ), which reflect the noteworthy emergence and shift of research concentration from online privacy and security to online market sentiments and analyses. Other thematic clusters such as Clusters #2, #3, and #5 have also witnessed a massive increase in publications during this period. This implies that ECR has become relatively diverse in the research that it publishes, which also explains the rise in the number of papers that the journal publishes during this period. The keyword network in Fig.  10 sheds further light on this observation. In particular, many keywords in the network illustrate a strong research concentration on online market sentiments and analyses, such as “big data,” “data mining,” machine learning,” “sentiment analysis,” and “social network analysis” (Cluster #4). Similarly, keywords such as “dual channel supply chain,” “supply chain coordination,” and “social commerce” indicate the type of research focusing on online channels and optimization (Cluster #2), “social influence,” “social media,” and “social media marketing” reflect research in the area of online engagement and preferences (Cluster #3), and “consumer reviews,” “online reviews,” “reputation,” and “word of mouth” speak to research on online reviews and ratings (Cluster #5).

figure 10

Keyword network between 2017 and 2020. Note Threshold for inclusion is a minimum of two occurrences

7 Conclusion

This study presents a 20-year retrospective of ECR since its inception in 2001. Several research questions were proposed and pursued using a bibliometric methodology consisting of performance analysis and science mapping (e.g., co-authorship analysis, bibliographic coupling, and temporal keyword analysis).

Our first four research questions—i.e., research question 1 to research question 4—concentrated on the publication and citation trends of ECR . Through performance analysis, we found that ECR has grown exponentially in terms of its publications and citations. Most contributors of ECR come from China and the United States, which reflect (1) China’s standing as the world’s largest e-commerce market with 50 percent of the world’s online transactions occurring in this country, and (2) the United States’ standing as the world’s pioneer of e-commerce (e.g., Amazon) and her expectation for e-commerce to reach 50% of total retail sales in the country in 10 years [ 113 ]. Interestingly, IBM, a non-academic institution, emerged as the highest contributing institution to the journal, which is unsurprising given that IBM is the largest industrial research organization in the world with 12 research labs across six continents [ 114 ]. More importantly, ECR was found to be well received among its peers, with many of its citations coming from prestigious journals in the field of information systems and management. Nevertheless, we observed that ECR receives very little contribution from Africa and several parts of Asia, particularly South Asia and South East Asia. Though electronic commerce may not have been very prominent in these regions in the past, we believe that the coronavirus pandemic that has taken the world by storm in 2020 has accelerated the proliferation and adoption of electronic commerce in these regions, and thus, we would encourage authors from these regions to submit their best papers to ECR in the near future. Thus, we raise two future research questions (FRQs) for exploration:

FRQ1: What are the e-commerce innovations that avail in underexplored regions (e.g., Africa, South Asia, and South East Asia) and how do such innovations fare in terms of similarities and differences in manifestations and impact against their more richly explored counterparts (e.g., China, United States)?

FRQ2: How can global pandemics such as COVID-19 change or impact e-commerce around the world (e.g., can the pandemic accelerate e-commerce adoption across all layers of society; can the pandemic lead to new innovations; can e-commerce contribute to positive and/or negative economic and social impact during the pandemic—and if yes, what and how, and if no, why)?

Our next two research questions—i.e., research question 5 and research question 6—focused on the collaboration trends in and the important constituents of ECR in the co-authorship network. Using co-authorship analysis, we found that the collaboration culture in ECR has grown with the passage of time, as evidenced through the decreasing share of single-authored articles and the increasing share of multi-authored publications, especially in the five or more authors category. We also observed that the share of multi-authored articles has always been dominant in the journal, with such publications forming nearly 90% of the corpus at any given point in time. Indeed, these observations reflect the increasing emphasis that universities place on multi-author and inter-/multi-/trans-disciplinary collaborations in promotion and tenure practices and policies [ 115 ]. In terms of important constituents in the co-authorship network, Jian Mou emerged as the most important author across two measures of centrality, whereas Renmin University and University of Ottawa emerged as the most important institutions at the institution level, and the United States emerged as the most important constituent at the country level. Nonetheless, we noted that authors who collaborate in ECR do not work much across diverse teams, but they do, however, work a lot across institutions and countries. Future scholars could rely on the centrality networks that we have curated herein this study for potential collaboration with authors from varying institutions and countries who have a good publication record and a research interest to publish with ECR .

Our final research question—i.e., research question 7—was dedicated to unpacking the major themes in ECR . Through bibliographic coupling, our study found 11 major clusters that reflected the major themes underpinning research published in ECR : (1) online privacy and security, (2) online channels and optimization, (3) online engagement and preferences, (4) online market sentiments and analyses, (5) online reviews and ratings, (6) online exchanges and transactions, (7) online media and platforms, (8) online technology acceptance and continuance, (9) online communities and commercialization in the virtual world, (10) online customer expectations, satisfaction, and loyalty, and (11) online purchase intention. Through temporal keyword analysis, our study observed that the topics published in ECR has become more diverse over time, with a noteworthy shift from an early concentration on online privacy and security to a contemporary focus on newer, industry-informed topics, such as online market sentiments and analyses, which we reckon coincides with the emergence of the unique peculiarities of the fourth industrial revolution (IR 4.0), such as big data and machine learning, in recent years [ 116 , 117 ]. Thus, to extend the line of research that concentrates on unpacking the contemporary realities of e-commerce, we propose another two future research questions (FRQs) for exploration:

FRQ3: How can emergent technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence, big data analytics, blockchain, machine learning) be applied to improve forecasting (e.g., cybercrime, social network), optimize functions (e.g., advertising, sales), and protect stakeholders (e.g., privacy, security) in e-commerce?

FRQ4: How can e-commerce operators leverage on emergent technologies to acquire competitive advantages (e.g., how to build trust and good relationships with customers [e.g., digital natives, digital migrants], and how to respond to changes in customer demands and marketplace trends with agility), and whether these competitive advantages that they acquired are sustainable or transient (and if transient, then what can they do to curate, maintain, or replenish their competitive advantages in the long run)?

Though thorough in its approach, this study does suffer from certain limitations. First, this study relies on the Scopus for bibliometric data. Though the database has its merits, as laid out in the methodology section, the bibliographic data is not created for the purpose of bibliometric analysis. This may lead to errors in the data source. Through data cleaning, we have attempted to minimize errors, but any remaining error in the source data, which we might have missed, could have an impact on the final analysis, though we believe that the margin for such errors would be relatively small, if not, negligible. Second, ECR has been around for 20 years, but the dataset available on Scopus, which we used, is only complete for 16 years (2005–2020). Due to this limitation, the science mapping part of the study—i.e., co-authorship, bibliographic coupling, and temporal keyword analysis—had to be restricted to this period only. We do not discount the possibility that the complete set of earlier data (2001–2004) may become available on Scopus in the future, and thus, we would encourage future research aiming to conduct a bibliometric review for ECR , perhaps in the next milestone (e.g., 30, 40, or 50 years), to check on such data availability, and if available, to take advantage and conduct a full-fledged science mapping for the journal. Finally, the scientific insights that could be uncovered through a bibliometric methodology, though rich, remain limited. In particular, bibliometric reviews such as ours do not delve into expert information, such as the theories, contexts, and methods employed to create new knowledge on electronic commerce in the ECR corpus. This, in turn, makes it difficult for bibliometric reviews to put forth a comprehensive set of data-informed proposals for future research. Nonetheless, we opine that bibliometric reviews do provide a good starting point of data-informed insights that future research can rely on to understand the trajectory of the extant discussion of electronic commerce in the journal. In particular, we believe that such insights would be useful, not only for future empirical research (e.g., potential collaboration networks, research themes of interest), but also for future reviews on thematic domains in ECR (e.g., systematic reviews on online market sentiments), which can be done in a number of ways, such a critical review [ 118 , 119 , 120 ], a thematic review [ 121 , 122 ], a theory-driven review [ 123 ], a method-driven review [ 124 , 125 ], or a framework-based review [ 126 ].

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Kshetri, N. (2013). Cybercrime and cyber-security issues associated with China: Some economic and institutional considerations. Electronic Commerce Research, 13 (1), 41–69. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-013-9105-4 .

Goh, T. T., & Sun, S. (2014). Exploring gender differences in Islamic mobile banking acceptance. Electronic Commerce Research, 14 (4), 435–458. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-014-9150-7 .

Chen, Y., & Chou, J. S. (2015). ECC-based untraceable authentication for large-scale active-tag RFID systems. Electronic Commerce Research, 15 (1), 97–120. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-014-9165-0 .

Isaac, J. T., Zeadally, S., & Cámara, J. S. (2012). A lightweight secure mobile payment protocol for vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs). Electronic Commerce Research, 12 (1), 97–123. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-011-9086-0 .

Jeffrey, S. A., & Hodge, R. (2007). Factors influencing impulse buying during an online purchase. Electronic Commerce Research, 7 (3–4), 367–379. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-007-9011-8 .

Biller, S., Chan, L. M. A., Simchi-Levi, D., & Swann, J. (2005). Dynamic pricing and the direct-to-customer model in the automotive industry. Electronic Commerce Research, 5 (2), 309–334. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-005-6161-4 .

Yan, R. (2008). Profit sharing and firm performance in the manufacturer-retailer dual-channel supply chain. Electronic Commerce Research, 8 (3), 155. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-008-9020-2 .

Cui, Y., Mou, J., & Liu, Y. (2018). Knowledge mapping of social commerce research: A visual analysis using CiteSpace. Electronic Commerce Research, 18 (4), 837–868. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-018-9288-9 .

Li, S., & Sun, W. (2016). A mechanism for resource pricing and fairness in peer-to-peer networks. Electronic Commerce Research, 16 (4), 425–451. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-016-9211-1 .

Wang, Z. B., Wang, Y. Y., & Wang, J. C. (2016). Optimal distribution channel strategy for new and remanufactured products. Electronic Commerce Research, 16 (2), 269–295. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-016-9225-8 .

Rofin, T. M., & Mahanty, B. (2018). Optimal dual-channel supply chain configuration for product categories with different customer preference of online channel. Electronic Commerce Research, 18 (3), 507–536. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-017-9269-4 .

Sila, I. (2013). Factors affecting the adoption of B2B e-commerce technologies. Electronic Commerce Research, 13 (2), 199–236. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-013-9110-7 .

Ozok, A. A., & Wei, J. (2010). An empirical comparison of consumer usability preferences in online shopping using stationary and mobile devices: Results from a college student population. Electronic Commerce Research, 10 (2), 111–137. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-010-9048-y .

Grace-Farfaglia, P., Dekkers, A., Sundararajan, B., Peters, L., & Park, S. H. (2006). Multinational web uses and gratifications: measuring the social impact of online community participation across national boundaries. Electronic Commerce Research, 6 (1), 75–101. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-006-5989-6 .

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Pan, H., & Zhou, H. (2020). Study on convolutional neural network and its application in data mining and sales forecasting for e-commerce. Electronic Commerce Research, 20 (2), 297–320. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-020-09409-0 .

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Panniello, U., & Gorgoglione, M. (2012). Incorporating context into recommender systems: An empirical comparison of context-based approaches. Electronic Commerce Research, 12 (1), 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-012-9087-7 .

Zhou, Q. (2018). Multi-layer affective computing model based on emotional psychology. Electronic Commerce Research, 18 (1), 109–124. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-017-9265-8 .

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Dráb, R., Štofa, T., & Delina, R. (2020). Analysis of the efficiency of electronic reverse auction settings: Big data evidence. Electronic Commerce Research (in press) . https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-020-09433-0 .

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Zhang, L., Luo, M., & Boncella, R. J. (2020). Product information diffusion in a social network. Electronic Commerce Research, 20 (1), 3–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-018-9316-9 .

Zhanikeev, M. (2015). How variable bitrate video formats can help P2P streaming boost its reliability and scale. Electronic Commerce Research, 15 (1), 25–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-015-9175-6 .

Cheng, X., Gu, Y., & Mou, J. (2020). Interpersonal relationship building in social commerce communities: Considering both swift guanxi and relationship commitment. Electronic Commerce Research, 20 (1), 53–80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-019-09375-2 .

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Royo, S., & Yetano, A. (2015). “Crowdsourcing” as a tool for e-participation: Two experiences regarding CO 2 emissions at municipal level. Electronic Commerce Research, 15 (3), 323–348. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-015-9183-6 .

Chen, D., Li, X., & Lai, F. (2017). Gender discrimination in online peer-to-peer credit lending: Evidence from a lending platform in China. Electronic Commerce Research, 17 (4), 553–583. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-016-9247-2 .

Yu, C. H., & Lin, S. J. (2013). Fuzzy rule optimization for online auction frauds detection based on genetic algorithm. Electronic Commerce Research, 13 (2), 169–182. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-013-9113-4 .

Yan, Y., Lv, Z., & Hu, B. (2018). Building investor trust in the P2P lending platform with a focus on Chinese P2P lending platforms. Electronic Commerce Research, 18 (2), 203–224. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-017-9255-x .

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Cagnina, M. R., & Poian, M. (2009). Beyond e-business models: The road to virtual worlds. Electronic Commerce Research, 9 (1–2), 49–75. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-009-9027-3 .

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Tsai, H. T., Chien, J. L., & Tsai, M. T. (2014). The influences of system usability and user satisfaction on continued Internet banking services usage intention: Empirical evidence from Taiwan. Electronic Commerce Research, 14 (2), 137–169. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-014-9136-5 .

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Satish Kumar & Nitesh Pandey

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Weng Marc Lim

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Kumar, S., Lim, W.M., Pandey, N. et al. 20 years of Electronic Commerce Research . Electron Commer Res 21 , 1–40 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-021-09464-1

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-021-09464-1

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Ecommerce Research Topics

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E-Commerce Dissertation Topics

As technology grows to be a bigger part of today’s society, the amount of people benefiting from e-commerce is increasing. There has been an influx of online retailers over the years which indicates society’s acceptance of ecommerce. There is however, still a great amount of progress happening both in terms of the technology being developed as well as in terms of the market penetration and methods of employment. If you are thinking of completing your dissertation in an area of e-commerce, we have come up with some relevant topics to help stimulate your research. The dissertation topics have been split into a number of different key areas to give you a broad range of topics to choose from:

Strategy for E-commerce Dissertation Topics

  • Marketing/Advertising for E-business and E-commerce Dissertation Topics

Security and Trust Dissertation Topics

Legislation dissertation topics, usability dissertation topics, mobile e-commerce dissertation topics, law and e-commerce dissertation topics.

E-commerce has become an essential way for business to trade with the necessity and ability of an organisation to promote their service/ product. It has become one of the quickest growing technologies in the retail industry. Various strategies can be employed to the development of e-commerce, yet a gap is still presented in the technology which is used for ecommerce. One of the most important things in any business is the unique selling proposition. This is no different in e-commerce. The ability to identify the USP is the ability to install a productive and profitable e-commerce strategy. The platform alone (i.e. the Internet) may sometimes contribute to the USP, such as supermarkets allowing people to purchase goods online and provide delivery to their doors. It is also important that the consumer feels that they can shop at their leisure without the problems of going to a physical location. However, as the number of online retailers increases this may erode the USP that depends greatly on the platform. Possible e-commerce dissertation topics in this area are:

  • An analysis of e-commerce strategies for traditional organisations (Migration)
  • An analysis e-commerce strategies for new organisations
  • An analysis of e-commerce strategies for traditional organisations moving on to the Internet (Migration)
  • E-commerce strategies – Accident or design?
  • What are the components of a good e-commerce strategy?
  • An analysis of Internet branding strategies
  • How to obtain competitive advantage using technology
  • How to obtain competitive advantage using service in e-commerce
  • Internal business process and organisational strategy for change management
  • Business Process Reengineering – Myth or medicine?
  • An analysis of Internet business value creation strategies
  • Performance measurement of an e-business strategy (Case study)
  • E-business strategies for knowledge management – An analysis and evaluation
  • E-business strategies formulation techniques – Proposal for a new technique
  • An e-business strategy for an educational institution (Case study/Project)
  • An e-business strategy for an SME (Case Study/Project)
  • An e-business strategy for a B2B business.
  • An analysis of payment processing models
  • How effective is social media to the process of e-commerce?
  • How can e-commerce strategies build a better customer relationship?
  • How important is the unique selling point to the customer and the development of e-commerce?

Marketing/Advertising for E-businesses and E-commerce Dissertation Topics

The establishment of a brand or organisation is a necessary feature in the development of e-commerce. This is done through the marketing and advertising mediums which are available to an organisation. Marketing or advertising for an e-business is a very important part of the overall strategy for e-businesses. There are many challenges to the development of the marketing and advertising to an organisation and it is necessary that the organisation is still visible to the consumer. The development of Internet marketing techniques such as paid advertisements for keyword searches, banner advertisements and also the use of Web 2.0 applications that make use of social networks for advertisements, have all changed the way marketing and advertising operates. Developing the platforms to better engage with the customers is important to the development of customer and brand loyalty through e-commerce which can be done through the creation of the promotional strategies which are available. The amount of information available today has made it possible to carefully target customers based on profiles, networks, etc. A good knowledge of the mechanisms of the technology is required in order to take full advantage of the opportunities available. In developing strategies through social media, it is appropriate to understand that this digital word of mouth version is extremely valuable to the organisation and costs nothing. The internet and social media also allows organisations to reach customers on a greater scale. Suggested topics for your e-commerce dissertation include:

  • The importance of search engine rankings for e-commerce
  • Search engine advertisement strategy
  • Marketing strategy on the Internet
  • E-commerce Marketing Mix – Wholly online, or one foot in both worlds?
  • Pay-per-click vs. Pay-per-impression – A comparison
  • An advertising strategy for an e-business (case study)
  • Critical evaluation of an e-commerce company’s advertising strategy (case study)
  • Analytical Issues and empirical evidence of marketing strategies in e-commerce
  • Measuring e-commerce advertising success (case study)
  • Measuring e-commerce advertising success (proposal of a new technique/algorithm)
  • Measuring customer retention for e-commerce portals
  • Analysis of customer behaviour as an input for marketing strategy
  • What draws repeat customers to an online retailer?
  • Internet marketing for traditional retailers
  • Internet marketing for new (born on the Internet) retailers
  • Internet marketing – new strategy proposal
  • How can social media be used to market and advertise to the customer?
  • Digitalised word of mouth, how important is this to marketing an organisation online?
  • Brand loyalty, the development of the internet on marketing and e-commerce

Security and trust are extremely important issues in e-commerce. One of the major perceived threats of e-commerce is the issue of security. Security and trust threats come from two areas in e-commerce – threat from third party attacks on legitimate transactions between a retailer and the customer and threat from fraudulent retailers to customers. It has become important for organisations and their online presence to identify the risks and threats to security in order to promote a safer security environment. Customers have become more aware of the issues involved in security particularly in the banking industry and on the development of secure networks to shop online.

Third party attacks Dissertation Topics

The threat of third party attacks is an ever-present one. Hackers may try to gain access to sensitive information stored in the web servers, such as credit card information, bank account details and even personal details for identity theft. This threat has become more prevalent with the introduction of new digital technologies. Retailers have a legal responsibility to keep any personal details they collect safe. Technology such as SSL, firewalls, intrusion detection etc. are all used to secure the website from unauthorised access. Third party attacks are also facilitated by lax security from customers. Some e-commerce dissertation topics in this area are:

  • Critical evaluation of current technology enabling e-commerce security
  • Analysis of previous attacks and vulnerabilities that led to those attacks
  • Security vulnerabilities and possible attacks methods – firewalls
  • Security vulnerabilities and possible attack methods – SSL
  • The effectiveness of current intrusion detection technology
  • Critical evaluation of security policies of a website
  • Critical evaluation of the firewall policies of a website
  • Perception of security among the lay public
  • Educating the public about security
  • Encryption – State of the Art.
  • How effective is today’s encryption to prevent spying/snooping?
  • Customer confidence and how they perceived their data is being handled
  • Security limitations and challenges in the online environment
  • How much more can online retailers, banks etc do to provide more security to online transactions?

Trust in e-commerce Dissertation Topics

There is a great deal of benefits to e-commerce, yet there is still some hesitation from customers when it comes to using online shopping. Trust is an important issue in e-commerce, because unlike real world transactions, the retailer is not present in person during the transaction. Hesitation is apparent due to the lack of trust in the perception of the online environment. It is much easier for an entity to set up a website and an electronic payment processing system than a real-world storefront. It is also much more difficult for customers to determine the authenticity of websites. This makes it very difficult to trust that the retailers are who they claim to be. Online hacking has also become an issue for the online consumer as they fear that their personal information will be compromised. Some of the topics you could research for your e-commerce dissertation in this area are:

  • Digital certificate, encryption and public key infrastructure weakness analysis
  • Trust models in e-commerce
  • Analysis of the effectiveness of trust-building mechanisms
  • Analysis of public perceptions of trust
  • Data privacy issues in e-commerce
  • Data Protection Act 2002 – Implications for e-commerce
  • Managing reputations online
  • How important is trust in e-commerce and how it can be built up?
  • Trust in e-commerce – Myth or Reality?
  • The antivirus business
  • The protection business – how effective is today’s antivirus software?
  • Adware vs. spyware – where is the line drawn?
  • Impact of trust on consumer behaviour
  • Comparing tradition commerce to e-commerce and the understanding of trust for the consumer
  • How can online retailers build trust in potential and existing customers using security and risk management strategies?

Legislation has also been enacted in countries throughout the world in an effort to ensure that computer networks are safe from external threats and that any ‘attackers’ are brought to justice swiftly. By way of illustration, in the UK, legislation including the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and the Police and Justice Act 2006 has been enacted and implemented to help both prevent and punish computer security breaches. With this in mind, in view of the sheer breadth of this area of law, here are a number of dissertation topics that you may wish to consider in this area:

  • The Computer Misuse Act 1990 – Scope, definition, reach and effectiveness.
  • The Police and Justice Act 2006 – Scope, definition, reach and effectiveness.
  • Legislation protecting computer security in the UK – Adequate or not fit for purpose?
  • An examination of international legislation in protecting computer security.
  • How effective has domestic and international legislation proved to be as a deterrent to computer attacks?
  • What impact will the pending Brexit have upon the application of the law related to keeping computer networks safe from external threats and ensuring that any ‘attackers’ are brought to justice?
  • How effectively has the law in this area kept up with the external threats to computer networks technological advancements?
  • In view of the pending Brexit, what lessons can UK policy makers learn from countries’ legal systems outside the European Union, with a view to guaranteeing computer networks are kept safe from external threats?

Website usability is important for online retailers because their ‘shops’ are not physically manned and consumers abandon sites that are poorly designed, if they need to make too many clicks, or if they have to look too hard for what they want. Customers don’t return if the content is hard to use. Websites therefore have to be very user-friendly; the layout and design should strive to achieve the balance between simplicity and presentation of all information because higher usability is a competitive advantage in today’s market. Technology has also been employed to provide effective customer service, such as having 24/7 support over the phone, and live chat on the e-commerce website. The new generation of Internet applications, such as the semantic web and natural language search (collectively termed Web 3.0), holds great promise for progress in customer service in e-commerce. Some of e-commerce dissertation topics in the area of usability are:

  • Critical analysis of current technology employed for e-commerce customer service.
  • Potential Web 3.0 applications for customer service.
  • Developing a new Web 3.0 application for customer service.
  • Emerging semantic web applications in marketing.
  • Effectiveness of principles of usability of e-commerce websites.
  • Do W3C standards help promote usability?
  • Analysis of any one major e-commerce website (such as Amazon) from the usability point of view.
  • The monetary impact of low usability of retail e-commerce websites.
  • Quantifying usability for e-commerce.
  • Evaluating the key aspects of usability of e-commerce websites based on users’ preferences.
  • Usability survey for one or more e-commerce website(s).
  • Applying business processes refactoring to improving usability in on e-commerce websites.
  • The role of usability in customer satisfaction with and commitment to a fashion retail website.
  • Usability and user experience with mobile geo-referenced apps in the travel and tourism industry.

Mobile e-commerce, mobile commerce, or m-commerce is the next frontier in e-commerce. An increasingly networked and mobile world means that the Internet is no longer shackled to the desktop and a landline. It is now available in many mobile devices including smartphones and tablets. Savvy retailers have been quick on the uptake, providing content and delivery mechanisms more suited to the m-commerce platform. There are various opportunities for m-commerce, from profit-seeking through customers’ calls and texts to custom-designed applications for mobile platforms. Some m-commerce dissertation topics are:

  • Wireless security for m-commerce.
  • Exploring geographical boundaries of m-commerce.
  • Payment processing methods for m-commerce.
  • Custom e-commerce applications for m-commerce.
  • Analysis of m-commerce business models.
  • Usability of m-commerce applications.
  • Mobile client technology problems and bottlenecks.
  • Mobile networks technology problems and bottle necks.
  • User interface design for m-commerce.
  • Wireless networks capacity problems: Issues facing m-commerce.
  • E-commerce application with wireless to wired interface.
  • User identification for m-commerce.
  • Data security in m-commerce.
  • Differences in customer decision-making across e-commerce and m-commerce platforms.
  • What are the barriers to more extensive adoption of m-commerce in developing countries?
  • Does the reputation of the payment provider affect consumers’ willingness to undertake m-commerce transactions?
  • Using m-commerce to achieve strategic business objectives: A John Lewis case study.

Governments in individual countries around the world have proved to be somewhat slow in practice to react to advancements in technology and, in particular, e-commerce. In brief, it is arguable that the laws in this area are generally proved to have been made at the behest of lobby groups that sit behind large profit-making organisations so that customers are then generally left to suffer. Some of the examples to have arisen in this regard include:

  • The continued extension of the Copyright Act in the US, with a view to benefitting the Disney Corporation, having been enacted at their behest.
  • The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) which serves to all too clearly benefit the Recording Industry Association of America.

Some e-commerce dissertation topics that you may wish to consider finding out more about in this area are:

  • The geographical boundaries of legislation affecting e-commerce.
  • The impact of the DMCA on e-commerce.
  • The impact of the American Copyright Act extensions on e-commerce.
  • The impact of the Berne Convention on e-commerce.
  • A review of UK legislation affecting e-commerce.
  • Borderless crimes – can a computer crime be committed outside the jurisdiction of any country?
  • Sealand – a digital utopia?
  • Geographical boundaries – is a hacker safe in Sealand?
  • Legislation P2P networks – killing a few legitimate businesses to save the majority of other businesses?
  • P2P networks and e-commerce.
  • Software patents – Repeatedly making money off the golden egg?
  • Pornography and e-commerce.
  • What impact will Brexit have upon the law related to e-commerce in the UK?
  • What are the main lessons that policy makers in the UK can learn from other countries with a view to improving the law regarding e-commerce domestically?
  • How can the most significant flaws to have been recognised with regard to UK laws related to e-commerce be most effectively redressed through new legislative enactments?

Data mining and E-Commerce

Data mining is another area which is likely to have a significant impact upon e-commerce. This is because it has come to be recognised that, since a huge amount of information is made available through digital systems, and that this information can be collated from various sources so as to then glean significantly more information than the individual would expect, customer privacy issues have come to the fore in recent years. With this in mind, legislation, including the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000, has been aimed at protecting the interests of the lay citizen. Some e-commerce dissertation topics that you may wish to consider finding out more about in this area are:

  • The Data Protection 1998 – Implications for e-commerce.
  • The Freedom of Information Act 2000 – Implications for e-commerce.
  • Data mining – Legal and Ethical Issues.
  • Data mining technology – the next frontier.
  • What impact is Brexit likely to have upon the law as it relates to data mining in the UK?
  • How successful has the law regarding data mining in the UK proved to be to date?
  • What lessons may be learned from other jurisdictions with regard to the development of the law as it relates to data mining in the UK?

Copyright © Ivory Research Co Ltd. All rights reserved. All forms of copying, distribution or reproduction are strictly prohibited and will be prosecuted to the Full Extent of Law.

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How retail giants could thrive on the post-pandemic high street

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Top contributors

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Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour, Queensland University of Technology

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Senior Lecturer in Retail Marketing, University of Tasmania

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Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director, Supply Chain Transportation and Logistics Center, University of Washington

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Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management, Michigan State University

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Professor, Director: School of Consumer Intelligence and Information Systems, University of Johannesburg

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Co-director, Centre for Digital Business, University of Salford

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Senior Lecturer and Co-Director of the Centre for Digital Business, University of Salford

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Professor of Accounting, University of Portsmouth

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Professor of Marketing and Innovation, Director, Marketing Innovation and The Chinese and Emerging Economies (MICEE) Network, Warwick Business School, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick

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Senior Lecturer in Centre for Digital Business, University of Salford

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Professor of Marketing and Retail, University of Stirling

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Assistant Professor, Northeastern University

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Senior Lecturer, The University of Melbourne

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Associate Professor of Political Science, Brock University

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Cartier Chaired Professor of Behavioural Sciences, Full Professor, Department of Entrepreneurship, ESCP Business School

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Theses on e-commerce topics

As a professor at a University of Applied Sciences, Prof. Geibel regularly supervises theses on e-commerce topics in the Business Administration , Media Management , Logistics and Entrepreneurship degree programs. If you would like some non-binding advice on the topics suggested here, on how to find a topic and on how to write a thesis, just use the comment function at the end of this article or write an email. An overview of the supervision procedure can also be found at the end of the post.

Theses can also be written in cooperation with companies. The companies can propose their own topic and provide a company representative as second supervisor of the thesis. Prof. Geibel has had very good experience with this configuration and is happy to put companies and students in touch with each other.An overview of topics already worked on and suggested topics can be found in this article. Please send requests for theses to: geibel (at) ecommercinstitut.de .

E-commerce-theses

For students but also for companies who would like to have a topic worked on as part of a thesis, the following list of topics for future theses could be inspiring:

Suggested topics for theses:

  • The digitization of the stationary store
  • Competitive strategies in times of growing Amazon dominance
  • Algorithms in e-commerce logistics
  • Electronic commerce and the supply of the population
  • Use of voice control in electronic commerce
  • Success factors in mobile commerce
  • Programmatic advertising in e-commerce
  • Innovations in e-commerce
  • Customer centricity as a success factor in e-commerce
  • Data-driven marketing in e-commerce
  • Economies of scale as growth factors in e-commerce
  • Approaches to evaluating online stores
  • Automation in e-commerce logistics
  • An analysis of the business model and competitive strategies of … (e.g. amazon, Zalando, Zooplus, Media Markt/Saturn or others)
  • Industry potential analysis in e-commerce taking into account product, industry and value creation
  • E-commerce in the European internal market
  • Internationalization strategies in e-commerce
  • Cognitive-psychological basics of e-commerce
  • Approaches to reducing the returns rate in e-commerce
  • Approaches to increasing sustainability in e-commerce
  • Augmented reality and e-commerce
  • Success factors for the development of a same-day delivery service
  • eFood: Success factors for establishing online food retailing
  • eLearning: Potential analysis of eLearning platforms and online universities
  • Competition problems in e-commerce
  • Artificial intelligence – possible applications in e-commerce
  • The use of robotics in shipping logistics
  • Virtual reality – possible applications in e-commerce

The following thesis topics provide a brief overview of topics from previous semesters to help with the topic formulation.

Elaborated topics of final theses:

  • Online food retailing in Germany – a comparative market and competition analysis for Rewe Digital and Amazon Fresh.
  • The Digitization of Stationary Food Retailing – Potential Analysis for the Use of Digital Technologies
  • State of Online Marketing in the Italian Tourism Industry: Empirical Analysis and Case Study
  • An Analysis of Amazon’s Business Model and Customer Loyalty Strategies
  • Benchmarking Study on the Optimization Level of Mobile Shopping Sites of Zalando and About You
  • Chances and Challenges in the Area of E-Health due to Digital Transformation
  • Transformation from car manufacturer to mobility provider – opportunities and challenges in the development of mobility platforms
  • Online marketing organization in transition – how do dynamic advertising technologies influence the marketing culture in the company?
  • The importance of brand communities for (online) brand management. The benefits of Facebook Fan Pages using selected examples.
  • Potential analysis of social media channels in relation to the success of customer retention.
  • A current analysis of online furniture retailing in Germany
  • External effects in e-commerce
  • The digital future of stationary trade – potentials and advantage strategies in competition with online trade using the example of the textile industry
  • Social Media as a Marketing Platform – Opportunities and Strategies for Self-Marketing on Instagram Using the Example of Fashion Bloggers
  • Adblockers: An analysis of the increasing popularity of ad blockers and their impact on traditional online marketing
  • Market segmentation in e-commerce: An A/B impact study of different newsletter contents
  • Gender Commerce – Gender-specific differences in online purchasing
  • Analysis of the online trade with drugstore articles in Germany with special consideration of logistical aspects
  • Target group segmentation in e-commerce
  • Social media and e-commerce
  • Sales financing in e-commerce
  • Competitive strategies in e-commerce
  • Rise and decline of social networks
  • Acceptance problems in mobile payment
  • Key figure systems in e-commerce
  • Comparison & requirement-oriented evaluation of modern online store systems
  • Design of financial transactions as a success factor in e-commerce
  • The battle for the mobile Internet – an industrial economic analysis of the competitive strategies of Google, Microsoft and Apple
  • Success potentials of mobile marketing
  • Success factors of social media for non-governmental organizations
  • Success potentials of mobile payment systems in the German market
  • Storytelling in brand communication – strategies and recommendations for action depending on customer involvement
  • Augmented reality as a success factor in mobile commerce? Opportunities, limits and risks
  • Targeted customer relationships in social media touchpoints – opportunities and limits of attribution modeling
  • Creation of a concept for the implementation of location-based services in the marketing strategy in the hospitality industry
  • Content marketing in long-tail e-commerce – creation of a marketing and communication concept for an online store

Published theses:

Learn more about these successful theses from our alumni:

  • The importance of AI in online marketing – a critical examination of the opportunities and challenges for promotion
  • Blockchain and alternative technologies in autonomous driving passenger cars
  • Influence of digitalization in the real estate industry – challenges and opportunities for improving the UX
  • The Impact of Digital Transformation on Change Management – A Critical Analysis of Current Concepts in the Consulting Industry
  • Evaluating intrapreneurship in corporate innovations – an analysis between scale-ups and large corporations
  • Future Mobility Concepts – A Critical Analysis of the Impact of Digitalization on the Automotive Industry
  • Sustainability in online retail using the example of Amazon
  • Critical examination of a digital sales platform – opportunities and risks for CRM

Procedure of supervision for final theses

Based on the experience of many successful theses, the following procedure has been established for the supervision of theses:

  • Initial contact and consultation to narrow down the topic
  • Selection of the topic
  • Overview of literature or empirical content
  • Linkage with academic and professional goals
  • Selection of first and second supervisors
  • Registration of the thesis by the student
  • Preparation and discussion of the outline
  • Independent preparation of the thesis by the students
  • Submission of the thesis by the students
  • Evaluation of the thesis by the examiners
  • Possible publication of results of the thesis

Beyond the topics suggested here, both students and companies can make their own suggestions, for which Prof. Geibel will be happy to consider realization. Suggestions are best sent to info (at) ecommerceinstitut.de .

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Privacy Overview

How to Do Market Research For Ecommerce in 2024

research topics about e commerce

Finding product ideas is easy, but choosing the best product depends on a variety of other questions like:

  • Is the product in a growing market where demand will continue to outweigh supply in the coming months/years?
  • Is the product well aligned with our brand and current customer base?
  • Does the product have healthy profit margins?
  • Is it realistic that we can be the market leader for this product?

The tricky part is efficiently finding high quality data to answer these questions.

So in this post, we’ll walk you through a simple yet effective step by step guide to ecommerce market research so that you can confidently select the best product for your store.

What Is Market Research For Ecommerce?

Market research for eCommerce is the process of collecting market data, such as demand trends, profitability, consumer behavior, and competitive insights, regarding a particular product or market niche.

This data is then used to make better investment decisions for marketing campaigns, new product launches, demographic expansions, and other strategies.

Step-By-Step Market Research Process For Ecommerce

Many ecommerce entrepreneurs overcomplicate the market research process and ultimately waste hours collecting data they don't know how to leverage.

To help you efficiently collect the data you need to make the best product selection, here’s a simple yet effective five step guide to ecommerce market research.

Step 1: Identify Products With Sustainable Growth Trends

There are plenty of ecommerce product research tools that provide product ideas.

Yet most of these tools use current best seller data from platforms like Amazon or even dropship supplier sales data to curate their databases of trending products.

The problem with using data that shows current trending products (or the fastest growing products from the past week) is that these products are likely already peaking. Many of them are just fads that were popularized on social media, and you’ll find that demand is dead by the time you add the product to your store.

As a result, you’ll always enter the market when the trend is dying .

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The solution to finding emerging products with strong long-term growth potential is to look at their historical growth trend from the past several months/years.

That’s why we built an ecommerce product research tool that offers a database of products that have a history of steady, sustainable growth from the past several months/years.

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The data we use to determine a product’s growth trend is the product keyword’s historical Google Search volume. Google Search volume is an accurate estimation of consumer interest as it’s based on a global data set rather than just one particular platform or supplier’s data.

To start identifying new product ideas, follow these steps:

  • Sort the database by the category most relevant to your niche (e.g., pets, sports, gaming, etc.).
  • Set the time period filter to a time period that makes sense for you. In general, dropshippers can use a shorter time frame (three or six months) than those manufacturing their own products.
  • Set the growth status to “Exploding:”

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As you scroll through the list of trending products, look for products that:

  • Have strong historical growth trends
  • Are relevant to your store and your audience

At this point, you’re just collecting product ideas, so don’t worry about the other metrics. We’ll use those later to narrow down our list of products.

When you find a product with a promising growth trend, you can click on it for more details. If it looks like a good candidate, click “Track Topic” and add it to a Project.

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Projects are stored in the Exploding Topics dashboard and make it easy to track products for further analysis. For example, here is the Project I created and titled “Pet Products.” It lives inside the dashboard, and the growth trend is updated daily so that you can easily monitor each product’s growth in real time:

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Going back to the product page, scroll to the bottom of the page, and you’ll see a list of other related products and trending topics.

Some of these related products, like the automatic dog feeder, might also be excellent candidates for your store. You’ll also see other related topics can lead to additional product ideas, like the Smart Dog House.

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You can click on any of these products or topics as well and add them to one of your Projects.

Aim to collect at least 15-20 products, depending on your niche.

If you already have a store and a very specific niche (e.g., dog toys), your list of potential products will likely be much shorter than if you’re starting a brand new store and still not quite sure what niche you’ll specialize in.

Step 2: Identify Growing Markets

Your product's chances of success increase significantly if it's part of a growing market trend than if it's a single growing product in a stagnant or declining market.

To gauge a market's growth, you can start by browsing secondary research data.

Allied Market Research and Grand View Research offer free market research reports, and they usually provide quantitative data like market size, growth forecasts, compound annual growth rates, and other information that can help you determine the market's growth trajectory.

Some market reports also offer consumer insights like spending data, target market demographic data, and even market sentiment.

The problem with market reports is that they can be overwhelming for ecommerce business owners to read.

Sure, they provide plenty of market data, but you must know how to extract insights from that data to answer the main question; is this a good ecommerce industry to pursue ?

The other problem is that most market research reports have conflicting data.

For example, the market report on smart pet feeders based on these two reports is drastically different:

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These data discrepancies often occur because different reports use different parameters to define a market – but those differences can skew your market assessment. (And in some cases, the market reports just don't use quality data.)

We wanted to make it easier for ecommerce owners to identify growing niche trends in seconds (rather than sifting through endless online market reports), so we created the Meta Trends feature.

It is a database of growing market niches discovered by AI and qualified by a human analyst. You can scroll down to the broader market category you're targeting and then browse the meta trends:

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You can then click on any niche and see the trending products, topics, and brands within that growing niche.

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If you see a new product you want to add to your list, you can just click "Track Topic" and add it to a Project.

While Meta Trends is a great place to find growing niche markets, many of the products you already saved in your Projects might not fit into one of the Meta Trends.

That doesn't necessarily mean those products are part of a dying market, though it's important to double check.

To make this easy, we created the Trends Search feature. You can type in any keyword and immediately see its historical Google Search volume trend.

For example, one of the Trending Product suggestions was "Padel Racket."

To check if it's in a trending niche market, I entered "padel" into the Trends Search feature.

I can see that this is clearly a trending niche:

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Pro Tip: If Trends Search shows that the niche market keyword you typed in is in decline, be sure to try a few different variations of the keyword before concluding that the market is in fact in decline.

Trends search also gives you some related topic suggestions, some of which may be additional product ideas, like “padel shoes.”

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We've found that this is a much easier way to quickly gauge a market's demand than combing through endless market research reports.

So in this step, cross off any product ideas on your list that are clearly in declining markets and focus on products that are riding the growth of a rising niche market.

Note: As you get closer to making a final product selection, it's still a good idea to do some deeper background market research on each product. However, the Trends Search feature can help you narrow your initial product list by quickly identifying products in declining markets .

Step 3: Measure Profitability And Consumer Demand

If you look at the two graphs below, it’s easy to guess at first glance that Product A is the best opportunity:

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Yet if the profit margin and demand numbers looked like this, Product B now looks like the better opportunity:

This is why the next step in the ecommerce market research process is analyzing specific metrics to better understand the profitability of each product.

To do this, go back to the Trending Products dashboard in Exploding Topics. You’ll be able to see the average monthly sales, price, and revenue of each product:

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Now that you have a list of products with long-term growth potential, start narrowing down the list by looking at which ones are most profitable.

Within Exploding Topics, you'll see average monthly sales, retail price, and revenue data (based on the top sellers of that product on Amazon).

You can then create a spreadsheet like the one below and fill in those numbers to estimate the gross profit margin per product.

The manufacturing and wholesale cost depend largely on the quality of the product and the supplier/manufacturer you choose.

For this, you'll have to make a rough estimation. You can look at wholesale websites like Alibaba, but we generally recommend against this as these tend to be lower quality products.

If you intend to build a sustainable brand with high quality products, you probably will end up manufacturing your own products or working with more exclusive suppliers, which can cost much more.

So search for market reports on Google, and you'll probably find some data on manufacturing costs.

For example, this market report on padel rackets contains plenty of helpful information on the economics of creating padel rackets:

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You can also talk to suppliers directly to estimate how much it costs to produce a single product unit. This will also help you better understand different variables that impact the cost of producing a single unit and other obstacles that you may not have considered.

Once you have a general estimate of the cost involved with producing a single unit, you can fill in the rest of the table to better estimate your monthly gross profit if you were to sell that product:

Step 4: Analyze Market Competition

Competition is a good sign that the market is stable, though too much competition can make it difficult to gain traction as your marketing costs will likely eat into your profits.

To analyze your competition, identify the top players in the space.

You can do that by looking at the product profile in Exploding Topics. Scroll down to the "Top Sellers" category, and you'll see a list of the top brands for that product (your competitors).

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Next, make a list of these top brands for further analysis.

Note: Brands are the companies that create the products, and vendors are the companies that sell the products. We recommend analyzing brands rather than vendors because some of the vendors also sell other unrelated products. So, even if a vendor is growing, that doesn't mean that demand for the particular product you're researching is growing.

Once you have a list of brands, check how long they've been in business.

If most brands are less than a year old, the market might not be stable, and it could be more of a fad than a sustainable industry trend. However, if these brands have been in business for a few years, there's a good chance that the product or niche is stable and profitable.

Next, check the brand's traffic growth.

Search traffic is a good indicator of consumer demand, so you want to see that the brand's traffic (and ideally, branded search query traffic) has steadily increased over the past few years.

To check traffic growth, you can look at site traffic trends using Semrush .

For example, if you're selling dog toys, you can see that the traffic trend growth for a top competitor in the space, PetLibro, is fairly promising:

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Alternatively, you can also use Trends Search to see how brand queries are trending:

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Once you’ve validated that the top players in the market are growing, you can gauge the general competitive landscape by looking at the following metrics for the main product/market keywords:

  • Keyword Search Volume : Ideally, you want this number to be high, as it indicates there is strong demand.
  • Keyword Difficulty : Any number above 40 or 50 will require substantial resources to get your page to rank for that product keyword if you don’t already have a strong domain with strong topical authority. The lower, the better.
  • Cost per Click : Another excellent way to estimate the difficulty of a keyword is to look at approximately how much it would cost to pay for that keyword if you were to pay to rank for it in Google ads. And if you intend to run paid ads, this number will give you an estimate of how much you can expect to spend to acquire a customer.

Semrush can provide all of this information for you:

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It’s also important to realize that competitive difficulty in a marketplace is relative to your competitive advantage in the market (e.g., your expertise on that subject and your current audience).

For example, makeup is a highly competitive niche.

Yet Selena Gomez launched a brand in the market with instant success because she already had a large following of young women interested in beauty.

In fact, launching a beauty brand is likely easier for her than launching a brand in a market that has lower competition yet is unrelated to her followers’ interests (like a B2B marketing tool).

So even if a market is highly competitive, it might still be a good fit for your brand if you already have a loyal customer base that wants that product.

Step 5: Identify Customer Pain Points

Businesses exist to solve problems, so if your product doesn't solve a customer problem more effectively than your competitors, it probably won't succeed.

In fact, this is a key reason many ecommerce entrepreneurs transition from dropshipping to creating their own products. As a dropshipper, the customer experience is really the only differentiator you can offer in the marketplace, as you and your competitors are selling the same products to the same target audience.

So before introducing a new product to the marketplace, look at the most common complaints regarding existing products.

To do this, head back to your saved products in Exploding Topics and look at the average reviews and ratings for each product. Scroll down to the "Top Sellers" category and then click the "View On Amazon" link to read the product's reviews (especially the products with lower ratings):

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As you're reading the reviews, answer the following questions in a spreadsheet:

  • What are the specific pain points these customers are using the product to solve?
  • What are the top 3 things people love about the product?
  • What are the top 3 things people disliked about this product?
  • Who is the ideal customer? (Average age, gender, nationality, interests, etc.).

This information is useful because it will help you identify how to make a better product and how to market your product. For example, a common pain point with the first product on the list is that it isn't as soft as people wanted. So, as you're creating and marketing your version of this product, make sure it's ultra soft:

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You can also do a new product search and filter the results by star rating in descending order. For example, here are all of the lowest rated beauty products that still have exploding demand:

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You can then repeat the same process of reading both the positive and negative reviews for each product.

If you already have an email list, you can also send a survey asking your current customers what other products they'd like that are similar to your existing products. In fact, you could even recruit some of those respondents to be part of a focus group for your new product idea.

Finally, look at a list of your best customers (those who buy the most frequently and spend the most money) and get on the phone with them.

A live conversation will allow you to ask follow-up questions and learn more about their interests, pain points, and desires. They may also tell you about new markets and product categories they're interested in, which can further aid your product research process.

Even if you don't have an online business yet, you can still talk to potential customers while researching product ideas.

For example, if you want to launch a product for moms but aren't yet sure what products they like, join several Facebook groups for moms. Then, ask them which products they like and why.

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You can also follow influencers in the space to see not only the products they recommend, but also read the comments to gauge what your target customers think of other related products.

Start The Market Research Process Today

There are plenty of different methods to execute market research for ecommerce, but we've found that most of them are time consuming and overwhelming.

We wanted to make ecommerce market research easier, so we designed Exploding Topics to do the market research for you and deliver the product ideas to you in a simple, clean dashboard.

If you feel overwhelmed by endless market research reports and primary research data, try Exploding Topics Pro for $1 to see if it's a more efficient solution to execute market research.

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  • Online Shopping and E-Commerce

New technologies are impacting a wide range of Americans’ commercial behaviors, from the way they evaluate products and services to the way they pay for the things they buy

Table of contents.

  • 1. Online shopping and purchasing preferences
  • 2. Online reviews
  • 3. New modes of payment and the ‘cashless economy’
  • Acknowledgments
  • Methodology

Suspected bot accounts share more links to popular political sites with an ideologically centrist or mixed audience

Americans are incorporating a wide range of digital tools and platforms into their purchasing decisions and buying habits, according to a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults. The survey finds that roughly eight-in-ten Americans are now online shoppers: 79% have made an online purchase of any type, while 51% have bought something using a cellphone and 15% have made purchases by following a link from social media sites. When the Center first asked about online shopping in a June 2000 survey, just 22% of Americans had made a purchase online. In other words, today nearly as many Americans have made purchases directly through social media platforms as had engaged in any type of online purchasing behavior 16 years ago.

But even as a sizeable majority of Americans have joined the world of e-commerce, many still appreciate the benefits of brick-and-mortar stores. Overall, 64% of Americans indicate that, all things being equal, they prefer buying from physical stores to buying online. Of course, all things are often not equal – and a substantial share of the public says that price is often a far more important consideration than whether their purchases happen online or in physical stores. Fully 65% of Americans indicate that when they need to make purchases they typically compare the price they can get in stores with the price they can get online and choose whichever option is cheapest. Roughly one-in-five (21%) say they would buy from stores without checking prices online, while 14% would typically buy online without checking prices at physical locations first.

Although cost is often key, today’s consumers come to their purchasing decisions with a broad range of expectations on a number of different fronts. When buying something for the first time, more than eight-in-ten Americans say it is important to be able to compare prices from different sellers (86%), to be able to ask questions about what they are buying (84%), or to buy from sellers they are familiar with (84%). In addition, more than seven-in-ten think it is important to be able to try the product out in person (78%), to get advice from people they know (77%), or to be able to read reviews posted online by others who have purchased the item (74%). And nearly half of Americans (45%) have used cellphones while inside a physical store to look up online reviews of products they were interested in, or to try and find better prices online.

research topics about e commerce

The survey also illustrates the extent to which Americans are turning toward the collective wisdom of online reviews and ratings when making purchasing decisions. Roughly eight-in-ten Americans (82%) say they consult online ratings and reviews when buying something for the first time. In fact, 40% of Americans (and roughly half of those under the age of 50) indicate that they nearly always turn to online reviews when buying something new. Moreover, nearly half of Americans feel that customer reviews help “a lot” to make consumers feel confident about their purchases (46%) and to make companies be accountable to their customers (45%).

But even as the public relies heavily on online reviews when making purchases, many Americans express concerns over whether or not these reviews can be trusted. Roughly half of those who read online reviews (51%) say that they generally paint an accurate picture of the products or businesses in question, but a similar share (48%) say it’s often hard to tell if online reviews are truthful and unbiased.

Finally, this survey documents a pronounced shift in how Americans engage with one of the oldest elements of the modern economy: physical currency. Today nearly one-quarter (24%) of Americans indicate that none of the purchases they make in a typical week involve cash. And an even larger share – 39% – indicates that they don’t really worry about having cash on hand, since there are so many other ways of paying for things these days. Nonwhites, low-income Americans and those 50 and older are especially likely to rely on cash as a payment method.

research topics about e commerce

Among the other findings of this national survey of 4,787 U.S. adults conducted from Nov. 24 to Dec. 21, 2015:

  • 12% of Americans have paid for in-store purchases by swiping or scanning their cellphones at the register.
  • Awareness of the alternative currency bitcoin is quite high, as 48% of Americans have heard of bitcoins. However, just 1% of the public has actually used, collected or traded bitcoins.
  • 39% of Americans have shared their experiences or feelings about a commercial transaction on social media platforms.

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On alternative social media sites, many prominent accounts seek financial support from audiences, majority of americans aren’t confident in the safety and reliability of cryptocurrency, for shopping, phones are common and influencers have become a factor – especially for young adults, payment apps like venmo and cash app bring convenience – and security concerns – to some users, most popular.

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21+ Best And Interesting Research Topics For Commerce Students In 2023

Research Topics For Commerce Students

Research is the systematic quest for knowledge, a crucial component in the academic journey. It holds immense significance for commerce students, as it provides insights into the complex world of business, economics, and finance. Understanding the importance of research in commerce studies can unlock countless opportunities for growth and innovation.

Choosing a research topic in commerce is a vital step. It’s the compass that guides your academic expedition. In this blog, research topics for commerce students, we delve into the intricacies of this process, offering 21+ captivating ideas for 2023.

Our topics span various subfields, from Accounting and Finance to Marketing and Sales Management. We will also share valuable tips for successfully completing your commerce research and tackling the challenges commerce students face during their research journey.

Stay tuned with us to explore the exciting research topics for commerce students.

What Is Research?

Table of Contents

Research is like being a detective, but instead of solving crimes, you’re solving puzzles about the world. It’s a careful and organized way to find out more about something. Imagine you have a big question, like “How do plants grow?” or “What makes people happy?” Research helps you gather information, like reading books, asking experts, or doing experiments to find answers to your questions. It’s like putting together pieces of a jigsaw puzzle until you see the full picture, and it’s how we learn new things about the world around us.

Importance Of Research In Commerce Studies

Here are some importance of research in commerce studies:

1. Informed Decision-Making

Research in commerce studies provides the information needed to make smart choices, ensuring decisions are based on facts rather than guesswork, which is essential for success.

2. Keeping Up with Trends

Commerce research keeps you updated on what’s new and popular, helping you adapt your products or services to stay appealing and competitive in the market.

3. Solving Problems and Being Creative

Research encourages creative problem-solving, offering fresh ideas and solutions to navigate challenges and improve how you do business.

4. Understanding Your Customers

Your customers’ likes and needs can help you make your products and services better, which will make them happy and keep them coming back.

5. Planning for the Future

Commerce research serves as a crystal ball, helping you prepare for future challenges and opportunities, ensuring you’re ready for what lies ahead.

How To Choose A Research Topic In Commerce?

Choosing a research topic in commerce is a crucial step in the research process. Your topic should be interesting to you and relevant and significant in the field of commerce. Here are seven key considerations to help you select the right research topic:

  • Identify Your Interests: Start by exploring your own interests and passion within the field of commerce. Choosing a topic that genuinely excites you will make the research process more enjoyable and productive.
  • Review Current Trends: Stay updated on the latest trends and developments in commerce. A relevant and timely topic is more likely to capture the attention of your audience and contribute to the existing knowledge.
  • Narrow Down Your Focus: Commerce is a broad field; therefore, it’s essential to narrow down your research focus. Consider specific aspects of commerce, such as e-commerce, international trade, or marketing strategies.
  • Research Feasibility: Assess the availability of resources, data, and information for your chosen topic. Ensure you can access the necessary research materials to support your investigation.
  • Consider the Impact: Think about the potential impact of your research. Will it address a particular problem, provide practical solutions, or offer valuable insights to the commerce community?
  • Consult with Advisors : Talk to your academic teachers or mentors for help. Based on their knowledge, they can give you useful advice and help you narrow down your study topic.
  • Pilot Research: Before finalizing your topic, consider conducting preliminary research or a pilot study to gauge the depth and scope of the chosen subject. This can help you refine your focus further.

Tips For Successfully Completing The Commerce Research

Here are some tips for completing the commerce research:

Tip 1: Define Your Research Question Clearly

To complete your commerce research successfully, start by defining your research question clearly. This question will guide your entire study and help you stay focused on what you want to investigate. Ensure it’s specific and well-defined to avoid getting lost in irrelevant information.

Tip 2: Plan Your Research Timeline

Create a research timeline to manage your time effectively. Break down your project into smaller tasks with deadlines. This will help you stay on top of things and avoid rushing at the last minute, giving you more time to do thorough research and analysis.

Tip 3: Gather Reliable Sources

For a successful commerce research project, gather information from reliable sources. Use academic journals, books, reputable websites, and official reports. Citing credible sources will strengthen your research and demonstrate your knowledge.

Tip 4: Analyze and Interpret Data

After gathering information, don’t just show it; look it over and figure out what it means. Explain what the results mean and how they connect to your study question. If they help you get your point across, use charts, graphs, or lists.

Tip 5: Revise and Proofread Your Work

Before submitting your research, take the time to revise and proofread. Check for spelling, grammar, and formatting errors. Ensure your paper flows logically and presents your research in a well-structured manner. A polished final product will leave a positive impression on your readers.

In this section, we will discuss 21+ best and interesting research topics for commerce students in 2023:

I.  Accounting and Finance

Accounting and Finance involve the management of money and resources within an organization. Here are three project topics in this category:

1. Financial Statement Analysis

Financial statement analysis projects focus on evaluating a company’s financial health by examining its balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement. It helps in making informed investment decisions or assessing a company’s creditworthiness.

  • Ratio analysis
  • Trend analysis
  • Comparative analysis
  • Common-size analysis
  • DuPont analysis

2. Budgeting and Forecasting

Budgeting and forecasting projects aim to create accurate financial plans for the future. This is crucial for organizations to allocate resources effectively and achieve financial goals.

  • Zero-based budgeting
  • Rolling budgets
  • Forecasting methods (e.g., time series analysis)
  • Budget variance analysis
  • Flexible budgeting

3. Risk Management and Insurance

These projects explore strategies to identify, assess, and mitigate financial risks within a business. It also involves examining the role of insurance in managing various types of risk.

  • Risk assessment
  • Hedging strategies
  • Catastrophic risk management
  • Types of insurance (e.g., property, liability, health)
  • Claims management

II. Business Management

Business management involves overseeing and coordinating various aspects of an organization to achieve its goals. Here are three project topics in this category:

5. Strategic Management

Strategic management projects delve into creating and implementing long-term plans to achieve a company’s vision and objectives. It includes assessing the competitive environment, formulating strategies, and ensuring their execution.

  • SWOT analysis
  • Porter’s Five Forces
  • Strategy formulation models (e.g., Ansoff Matrix)
  • Strategy execution and control
  • Corporate social responsibility in strategy

6. Leadership and Team Management

Projects in this area explore leadership styles, team dynamics, and how effective leadership can enhance team performance and organizational success.

  • Transformational leadership
  • Conflict resolution
  • Motivation and empowerment
  • Building high-performance teams
  • Leadership ethics

7. Change Management

Change management projects focus on planning and implementing organizational changes. It involves understanding the psychology of change, communication strategies, and overcoming resistance.

  • Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model
  • Change communication plans
  • Employee resistance and engagement
  • Change metrics and evaluation
  • Change leadership roles

III. Economics

Economics examines how societies allocate resources and make choices. Here are three project topics in this category:

8. Microeconomics of Consumer Behavior

Projects in this area explore how individuals make choices regarding consumption, budgeting, and the impact of factors like prices and income on these choices.

  • Utility theory
  • Consumer preferences
  • Budget constraints
  • Price elasticity of demand
  • Consumer surplus

9. Macroeconomic Policy Analysis

For these projects, you have to look at how fiscal and monetary policies, among other things, affect the economies of different countries. It looks at how they affect progress and economic stability.

  • Monetary policy tools (e.g., open market operations)
  • Fiscal policy tools (e.g., taxation)
  • Inflation targeting
  • Exchange rate policies
  • Economic growth models

10. Environmental Economics

Environmental economics projects explore the economic aspects of environmental issues, including resource allocation, externalities, and the design of policies to address environmental challenges.

  • The Tragedy of the Commons
  • Carbon pricing mechanisms
  • Cost-benefit analysis of environmental projects
  • Emission trading systems
  • Sustainable Development Economics

IV. E-Commerce and Information Technology

E-Commerce and Information Technology focus on online business operations and the use of technology in modern commerce. Here are three project topics in this category:

11. E-Commerce Website Development

Projects in this area involve designing, developing, and optimizing e-commerce websites, considering user experience, security, and effective product listings.

  • User interface design
  • Shopping cart functionality
  • Payment gateway integration
  • Mobile-responsive design
  • Search engine optimization (SEO)

12. Cybersecurity in E-Commerce

These projects address the critical need for cybersecurity in the e-commerce sector, including risk assessments, encryption, and fraud prevention strategies.

  • Data encryption protocols
  • Payment card security standards (PCI DSS)
  • Phishing and identity theft prevention
  • Penetration testing
  • Regulatory compliance (e.g., GDPR)

13. Big Data and Analytics in E-Commerce

Big data projects explore the collection and analysis of large datasets to gain insights into consumer behavior, optimize supply chains, and improve decision-making.

  • Data mining
  • Customer segmentation
  • Predictive analytics
  • Recommendation engines
  • Market basket analysis

V. Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management

Entrepreneurship and small business management focus on the creation and operation of small businesses. Here are three project topics in this category:

14. Business Plan Development

Projects in this area involve creating comprehensive business plans that cover market analysis, financial projections, and strategies for success.

  • Market research and validation
  • Financial forecasts
  • Marketing strategies
  • Operational plans
  • Exit strategies

15. Startup Financing and Funding

These projects explore various sources of capital for startups, such as venture capital, angel investors, loans, and crowdfunding.

  • Pitching to investors
  • Equity financing
  • Debt financing
  • Crowdfunding platforms
  • Bootstrapping strategies

15. Small Business Marketing Strategies

Marketing projects focus on cost-effective strategies for small businesses, including digital marketing, social media, content marketing, and customer relationship management.

  • Social media advertising
  • Email marketing
  • Content marketing
  • Customer retention strategies

VI. Global Business and International Trade

Global business and international trade explore the dynamics of commerce on a global scale. Here are three project topics in this category:

16. Market Entry Strategies for Foreign Markets

Projects in this area examine the different methods and considerations for entering and expanding into international markets, including exporting, franchising, joint ventures, and mergers and acquisitions.

  • Market research and selection
  • Entry mode analysis
  • Legal and cultural considerations
  • Global branding

17. Global Supply Chain Management

These projects delve into the complexities of managing global supply chains, optimizing logistics, and mitigating risks associated with international sourcing and distribution.

  • Supply chain visibility
  • Inventory management
  • Logistics and transportation
  • Vendor relationship management
  • Risk mitigation strategies

18. International Trade Policy and Agreements

This area explores the role of government policies and international agreements in shaping trade relations between countries and regions.

  • Trade barriers (e.g., tariffs, quotas)
  • Regional trade agreements (e.g., NAFTA, EU)
  • Dispute resolution mechanisms (e.g., WTO)
  • Trade liberalization
  • Trade compliance and documentation
  • Export-import regulations
  • Trade finance and letters of credit

VI. Law and Commerce

Law and commerce explore the legal framework businesses operate within. Here are three project topics in this category:

19. Business Contracts and Negotiation

Projects in this area examine the principles of contract law, negotiation strategies, and the drafting of effective business contracts to protect the interests of all parties involved.

  • Elements of a contract
  • Contract enforcement
  • Contract negotiation tactics
  • Boilerplate clauses
  • Remedies for contract breaches

20. Intellectual Property Rights

These projects focus on understanding and protecting intellectual property rights, including trademarks, patents, copyrights, and trade secrets, to safeguard a company’s innovations and creative works.

  • Trademark registration
  • Patent application process
  • Copyright infringement
  • Trade secret protection
  • IP licensing and litigation

21. Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Examining the ethical dimensions of commerce, these projects address corporate social responsibility, ethical decision-making, and the legal aspects of ethical business practices.

  • Ethical theories (e.g., utilitarianism, deontology)
  • CSR strategies
  • Whistleblowing and ethical reporting
  • Environmental regulations
  • Ethical codes of conduct

VI.  Marketing and Sales Management

Marketing and sales management focus on promoting products and services and driving revenue growth. Here are three project topics in this category:

22. Digital Marketing and Social Media Strategy

Projects in this area explore the use of digital channels and social media platforms for marketing, including content creation, advertising, and audience engagement.

  • Social media marketing
  • Content creation and curation
  • Search engine marketing (SEM)
  • Influencer marketing
  • Analytics and ROI measurement

23. Consumer Behavior Analysis

These projects delve into understanding the psychology and behavior of consumers to develop effective marketing strategies and product positioning.

  • Market segmentation
  • Consumer decision-making process
  • Brand loyalty and perception
  • Pricing strategies
  • Neuromarketing techniques

24. Sales Force Management and Sales Techniques

Examining the strategies and tactics for building and managing successful sales teams, these projects explore techniques for increasing sales revenue.

  • Sales coaching training and development
  • Sales performance metrics
  • Customer relationship management (CRM)
  • Sales prospecting and lead generation
  • Sales closing techniques

Challenges Face By Commerce Students In Research And Overcome Techniques 

Here are some challenges that are faced by commerce students in research:

1.  Lack of Research Skills

Many commerce students face challenges in conducting research due to a lack of research skills, such as finding relevant sources and data, and structuring their work effectively.

Overcome Technique

  • Take research skills workshops.
  • Seek guidance from professors or librarians.
  • Practice by starting with smaller research projects.

2. Time Management

Balancing research with coursework and other responsibilities can be difficult for commerce students, leading to time management challenges.

  • Create a study schedule and stick to it.
  • Break research tasks into smaller, manageable chunks.
  • Use time management tools and apps.

3. Data Collection and Analysis

Many commerce students struggle with gathering and analyzing data, as it can be overwhelming and complex.

  • Learn statistical tools and software.
  • Collaborate with experts in data analysis.
  • Seek mentorship for guidance on data handling.

4. Writing and Presentation

Communicating research findings effectively through writing and presentations can be a challenge for commerce students.

  • Take writing and presentation courses.
  • Practice concise and clear communication.
  • Use templates and guidelines for structuring papers and presentations.

5. Lack of Motivation

Staying motivated throughout the research process can be a hurdle, particularly when facing setbacks or obstacles.

  • Set clear goals and rewards.
  • Find a study group or research partner for mutual motivation.
  • Remember the long-term benefits of your research for motivation.

Research topics for commerce students serves as a valuable compass for budding commerce scholars. We’ve unveiled the significance of research, emphasizing its role in enhancing understanding and driving innovation in this field. Selecting a research topic is a pivotal step, and we’ve provided a diverse array of 21+ engaging research topics for commerce students, ensuring ample choices for 2023.

Furthermore, we’ve shared practical tips for successful research completion and addressed common challenges faced by commerce students, offering effective techniques for overcoming them. With this guide, you’re well-equipped to embark on your research journey, unlocking the door to discovery and academic achievement in the realm of commerce.

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  1. Top 8 e-Commerce Research Topic Ideas

    Top E-commerce Research Ideas. To ensure your eCommerce research paper captures attention and relevance, it's essential to focus on the most pertinent topics in the industry. We've compiled a list of potential topics that can significantly enhance the chances of your research paper's success: 1. Role of Artificial Intelligence in Shaping ...

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    Research Aim: With the development of the global economy and an increasing number of customers running their business largely through the internet or mobile has made e-commerce grow. Creating an effective strategy is the most integral part of a modern organization; however, a company must take care of the new security concerns and problems while maintaining their quality and high standard.

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    Electronic Commerce Research is a peer-reviewed journal that disseminates the latest findings in all aspects of e-commerce.. Explores core enabling technologies and their societal, economic, and individual implications. Publishes theoretical and empirical research contributing to a better understanding of electronic commerce.

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    This paper synthesises research on artificial intelligence (AI) in e-commerce and proposes guidelines on how information systems (IS) research could contribute to this research stream. To this end, the innovative approach of combining bibliometric analysis with an extensive literature review was used. Bibliometric data from 4335 documents were analysed, and 229 articles published in leading IS ...

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    Through the first three quarters of 2023, retail e-commerce totaled $793.7 billion, or 14.9% of all retail sales. short reads | May 19, 2023.

  7. ECRA

    Electronic Commerce Research and Applications will contribute to the establishment of a research community to create the knowledge, technology, theory, and applications for the development of electronic commerce. This is targeted at the intersection of technological potential and business aims. E-commerce is a multi-disciplinary area, which ...

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    Consumers are conscious of increasing online purchases and demand sustainable consumption friendly actions. Although there is increasing interest in this topic, the research status, development, and structure of consumer behavior and sustainability in e-commerce research is scarce. This study aims to analyze the intellectual, conceptual, and social knowledge of consumer behavior and ...

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    This study identified the major research topics in e-commerce research, as well as their evolution, from 2001 to 2020 by employing co-word analysis. Our research findings provide some new insights into the e-commerce field. First, the findings in this study indicate that some research themes developed based on a cumulative tradition.

  11. Sustainability

    Technological advances have facilitated the move from market-centric to user-centric commerce by enabling the progress towards S-Commerce from E-Commerce. Technologically advanced S-Commerce platforms have enabled collaborative commerce, which has led to the development of new commerce concepts such as sharing commerce. Unlike traditional E-Commerce or S-Commerce platforms, where the platform ...

  12. 20 years of Electronic Commerce Research

    2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of Electronic Commerce Research (ECR). The journal has changed substantially over its life, reflecting the wider changes in the tools and commercial focus of electronic commerce. ECR's early focus was telecommunications and electronic commerce. After reorganization and new editorship in 2014, that focus expanded to embrace emerging tools ...

  13. 57 Best Ecommerce Research Topics Ideas and Examples

    These eCommerce research topics are created by our expert writers. To enhance business Strategy for B2B business in the case of developing countries. To study the increasing rate of online shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research on the growth in the eCommerce business during covid'19 - an emergence of small businesses in the Asian ...

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    The rise of e-commerce means billions of packages are delivered in the US each year. That creates traffic and pollution, but urban freight researchers are finding better way to get goods to ...

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  18. How to Do Market Research For Ecommerce in 2024

    Step 1: Identify Products With Sustainable Growth Trends. There are plenty of ecommerce product research tools that provide product ideas. Yet most of these tools use current best seller data from platforms like Amazon or even dropship supplier sales data to curate their databases of trending products.

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    Americans are incorporating a wide range of digital tools and platforms into their purchasing decisions and buying habits, according to a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults. The survey finds that roughly eight-in-ten Americans are now online shoppers: 79% have made an online purchase of any type, while 51% have bought something using a ...

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    A brief history of e-commerce. E-commerce traces back to 1994 when the first internet sale was made (a CD sold to a friend through a website). Now a global phenomenon bolstered by the likes of Amazon and Alibaba, e-commerce has a global reach of 12 to 24 million e-commerce stores [].]. In the last few years, e-commerce has grown exponentially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, during which many ...

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  23. 5 Trending Project Topics for Commerce to Help You Stand Out

    Here are five trending project topics for commerce students that combine innovation, creativity, and contemporary business trends: 1. Digital Transformation in Retail. This project topic focuses on the transformation of traditional retail businesses in response to the digital revolution. Learn how retailers use online platforms, omnichannel ...