Impacts of Technology Adoption by Small Independent Food Retailers

Abstract

This paper aims to understand the impacts of technology adoption on small independent food retailers in Portugal. Based on primary data, perceptions of the impacts were related to types of technology and retailer‐specific characteristics. Although technologies for managing customer relationships are the most frequently adopted, there is no empirical evidence that they yield strong perceived impacts on firms' performance. The complexity and novelty of such technologies seems to require time for firms and workers to become proficient in their use, and hence to generate perceived impacts on firms' performance.

Digital Transformation Through the Lens of Digital Data Handling: An Exploratory Analysis of Agri-Food SMEs

“…Previous research has advanced knowledge about how the phenomenon of digital transformation strongly impacted the agri-food sector, highlighting the increasing use of technologies for a number of purposes. Among them, considerable attention was given to the study of technologies adopted to track products, collect and analyze real-time data streams, optimize processes, lower risk management, forecast market opportunities and trends, and improve decision-making in production and management (Eiriz et al, 2019;Gautam et al, 2017;Kamilaris et al, 2016;Sykuta, 2016). However, extant studies have not explained how agri-food SMEs handle digital data and how they use information gathered from such data to improve their performance (Bhaskaran, 2006;Morris et al, 2013).…”

“…In the agri-food industry, the extensive and ever-growing rate of technology adoption has enabled the rapid dissemination of large volumes of digital data from different sources and in different formats (for example, weather stations, social media feeds, and mobile phones) (Burke, 2010;Cane & Parra, 2020;Eiriz et al, 2019). These data are employed to extract useful insights to optimize processes, lower risk management, forecast market opportunities and trends, and improve agility in production and management decision-making (Fachrunnisa et al, 2020;Sykuta, 2016).…”

“…Finally, for data analysis, firms may adopt a series of technologies that help in extracting information and knowledge to make more informed decisions on strategies and operations (Bollweg et al, 2020;Eiriz et al, 2019). For example, agri-food firms are increasingly focusing on big data analytics (BDA) applications (O'Connor & Kelly, 2017).…”

“…However, it is increasingly evident how the phenomenon is also involving smaller firms in several industries, for example, health care, ICT, tourism, retail, and financial services (Pelletier & Cloutier, 2019). Technology adoption by small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) is found to facilitate collaboration and communication and allows such enterprises to reach greater operational efficiency (Barnes et al, 2012;Burke, 2010;Eiriz et al, 2019;Rosin et al, 2020).…”

“…The agri-food system is "the way in which people organize themselves, in space and in time, to obtain and consume their food" (Malassis, 1994, cited by Meynard et al, 2017, p. 330); hence, it encompasses a series of related activities (such as processing, retail, distribution, and consumption). There is a growing body of knowledge that examines how agri-food firms use digital technology to develop new food products (Burke, 2010;Eiriz et al, 2019). A number of researchers have shown how agrifood firms exploit technologies to perform specific tasks, such as tracking or collecting data.…”