Keywords
agricultural certifications
agri-food sector
agricultural trade
grocery online
Categories
How to Cite
Abstract
The idea that e-commerce helps businesses reduce costs and transaction times, increase efficiency, and provide more information, options, and value to consumers, emerged from its inception and has endured to this day. While e-commerce has been a driver of change and a source of competitive advantage in many business environments, this has not been the case in the agri-food sector, which goes on facing challenges in establishing itself in the agricultural industry, especially in developing countries. Therefore, one of the fundamental aspects is contextualizing the scenario for the case of Mexico. Within this context, the present research aimed to analyze case studies of Mexican
businesses that have adopted e-commerce as part of their sales strategy, in order to identify the essential aspects of their adoption, as well as their perceptions regarding economic, sociocultural, and environmental factors. It was identified that e-commerce benefits adopters economically, socially, and culturally, to a greater or lesser extent depending on the size of the company, leaving the environmental aspect as part of what must be worked on to reverse the negative impact it generates.
References
Andreopoulou, Z., Tsekouropoulos, G., Koutroumanidis, T., Vlachopoulou, M., & Manos, B. (2008). Typology for e-business activities in the agricultural sector. International Journal of Business Information Systems, 3(3), 231. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJBIS.2008.017283
Bartlett, L., & Vavrus, F. (2016). Rethinking Case Study Research. In Rethinking Case Study Research. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315674889
Canavari, M., Fritz, M., Hofstede, G. J., Matopoulos, A., & Vlachopoulou, M. (2010). The role of trust in the transition from traditional to electronic B2B relationships in agri-food chains. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 70(2), 321–327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2009.08.014
Cecchini, L., Torquati, B., & Chiorri, M. (2018). Sustainable agri-food products: A review of consumer preference studies through experimental economics. Agricultural Economics (Zemědělská Ekonomika), 64(12), 554–565. https://doi.org/10.17221/272/2017-AGRICECON
Dai, X., & Long, R. (2024). The impact of e-commerce adoption and carbon emission reduction on green supply chain performance in agri-food business sustainability. Polish Journal of Environmental Studies. https://doi.org/10.15244/pjoes/192935
Dul, J., & Hak, T. (2008). Case study methodology in business research (1st editio). Elsevier.
Fecke, W., Danne, M., & Musshoff, O. (2018). E-commerce in agriculture – the case of crop protection product purchases in a discrete choice experiment. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 151, 126–135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2018.05.032
Fritz, M., & Hausen, T. (2008). Electronic trade platforms in food networks: an analysis of emerging platform models and strategies. Journal of Information Technology in Agriculture, 3(1), 26–36.
Glaros, A., Thomas, D., Nost, E., Nelson, E., & Schumilas, T. (2023). Digital technologies in local agri-food systems: Opportunities for a more interoperable digital farmgate sector. Frontiers in Sustainability, 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2023.1073873
GSMA. (2019). E-commerce in agriculture: new business models for smallholders’ inclusion into the formal economy. www.gsmaintelligence.com
IFPRI. (2021). 2021 Global food policy report: Transforming food systems after COVID-19. In 2021 Global food policy report. https://doi.org/10.2499/9780896293991
Ju, D., & Lou, Y. (2024). The impact of e-commerce on the sales of agricultural and sideline products. Frontiers in Business, Economics and Management, 17(2), 106–110. https://doi.org/10.54097/qpjet510
Kalaitzandonakes, N., Kaufman, J., & Wang, X. (2003). Firm entry through e-commerce in the U.S. agricultural input distribution industry. Journal on Chain and Network Science, 3(2), 123–133. https://doi.org/10.3920/JCNS2003.x035
Laborde, D., Martin, W., Swinnen, J., & Vos, R. (2020). COVID-19 risks to global food security. Science, 369(6503), 500–502. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abc4765
Leroux, N., M.S., W. Jr., & Mathias E.D. (2001). Dominant factors impacting the development of business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce in agriculture. The International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 4(2), 205–218. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1096-7508(01)00075-1
Liu, S., Jin, Y., & Zheng, F. (2024). Did product certification and e-commerce benefit agricultural producers in China? Food Policy, 127, 102688. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102688
Matopoulos, A., Vlachopoulou, M., & Manthou, V. (2007). Exploring the impact of e-business adoption on logistics processes: empirical evidence from the food industry. International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications, 10(2), 109–122. https://doi.org/10.1080/13675560701427270
Montealegre, F., Thompson, S., & Eales, J. S. (2007). An empirical analysis of the determinants of success of food and agribusiness e-commerce firms. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 10(1), 61–81. https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.8168
OECD. (2020). COVID-19 and the food and agriculture sector: issues and policy responses. Oecd, April, 1–12.
Omega, S., Akaba, S., & Ghartey, W. (2022). Adoption of electronic commerce by agribusiness small medium enterprises in the upper east region of Ghana. Journal of Development and Agricultural Economics, 14(3), 79–94. https://doi.org/10.5897/JDAE2022.1350
Porter, M. E. (2001). Strategy and the Internet. Harvard Business Review, March, 63–78. https://doi.org/10.2469/dig.v31.n4.960
Rao, N. H. (2003). Electronic commerce and opportunities for agribusiness in India. Outlook on Agriculture, 32(1), 29–33. https://doi.org/10.5367/000000003101294235
Stephens, E. C., Martin, G., van Wijk, M., Timsina, J., & Snow, V. (2020). Editorial: Impacts of COVID-19 on agricultural and food systems worldwide and on progress to the sustainable development goals. Agricultural Systems, 183(May), 102873. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102873
Tsekouropoulos, G., Andreopoulou, Z., Seretakis, A., Koutroumanidis, T., & Manos, B. (2012). Optimising e-marketing criteria for customer communication in food and drink sector in Greece. International Journal of Business Information Systems, 9(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJBIS.2012.044453
Vlachopoulou, M., Ziakis, C., Vergidis, K., & Madas, M. (2021). Analyzing agrifood-tech e-business models. Sustainability, 13(10), 5516. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13105516
Wang, C. H., Lee, T. R., Lin, W. S., Sinnarong, N., Dadura, A. M., & Li, J. M. (2011). Improving B2C business for online store - The case study of agriculture products e-market shop in Taiwan. International Journal of Services and Standards, 7(2), 98–118. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJSS.2011.043632
Yang, R., Liu, J., Cao, S., Sun, W., & Kong, F. (2024). Impacts of agri-food e-commerce on traditional wholesale industry: Evidence from China. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 23(4), 1409–1428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jia.2023.10.020
Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods. In Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research (Vol. 53, Issue 5). https://doi.org/10.1177/109634809702100108
Zeng, Y., Jia, F., Wan, L., & Guo, H. (2017). E-commerce in agri-food sector: a systematic literature review. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 20(4), 439–460. https://doi.org/10.22434/IFAMR2016.0156
Zhang, M., Dong, J., & Zhang, Y. (2024). The impact of rural e commerce development on farmers’ income: a multi dimensional empirical study. Research on World Agricultural Economy, 5(4), 387–402. https://doi.org/10.36956/rwae.v5i4.1273
Zhu, X., Zhang, Q., Zhang, L., & Yang, J. (2014). Consumers’ demand and online promotion of the food retailing through the e-commerce websites in China. Advance Journal of Food Science and Technology, 6(1), 102–111. https://doi.org/10.19026/ajfst.6.3038
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2025 Adriana Yaomy Lucio Mendiola, Enrique Genaro Martínez-González, Norman Aguilar-Gallegos, Leticia Elizabeth Romero-García, Jorge Aguilar-Ávila