A qualitative data analysis (QDA) on e-tailing

A qualitative data analysis (QDA) on e-tailing contents on the Internet with the Hong Kong/ mainland China context

Joseph Kim-keung Ho

Independent Trainer

Hong Kong, China

Dated: August 14, 2016

Abstract: Due to the evolving and idiosyncratic nature of e-tailing, it is academically, practically and pedagogically valuable to conduct a qualitative data analysis on content in the public media, notably newspapers, from time to time. In this paper, the writer reports on such an analysis on e-tailing in the context of Hong Kong/ mainland China. The content is primarily newspaper articles found via an Internet search. Eight main themes with associated points are identified out of the analysis exercise. Furthermore, a more vivid knowledge structure on e-tailing in the Hong Kong/mainland China context is also portrayed with a mind map. Finally, the paper acknowledges its theoretical value to the study of managerial intellectual learning (MIL).

Keywords: e-tailing, Internet search, managerial intellectual learning (MIL), qualitative data analysis (QDA), mind map, thematic analysis

Please cite the paper as Ho, J.K.K. 2016. “A qualitative data analysis on e-tailing contents on the Internet with the Hong Kong/ mainland China context” Joseph KK Ho e-resources August 14 (url address: http://josephho33.blogspot.hk/2016/08/a-qualitative-data-analysis-on-e.html)

1.      Introduction

The topic of e-tailing, or Business to Consumer (B2C), is a prime one in the subject of e-Commerce. Granted that there is a steady accumulation of academic literature on e-tailing, the fast evolving real-world e-tailing practices and thinking need to be reflected on from time to time to inform e-tailing practices and academic investigation. This paper conducts such a reflection on contemporary e-tailing practices mainly in the Hong Kong and mainland China’s context.  The review takes the form of thematic analysis together with mind mapping on contents about e-tailing found on the Internet. The next section explains further the design of the qualitative data analysis employed; after that, the writer presents the findings in point-form and in a mind map. Lastly, the writer makes some concluding remarks.

2.      Qualitative data analysis (QDA) on contents from the Internet

The qualitative data analysis employed for content analysis in this paper involves four steps:

QDA Step 1: Gathering content from the Internet: The Internet search was conducted in the first week of August. The two main sources of news articles are from the South China Morning Post and the StartUps HK websites. All contents utilized in this study are in the public domain and free-of-charge. The contents are mostly related to the Hong Kong and mainland China context.

QDA Step 2: Identifying key points from the contents: Key e-tailing ideas and facts are taken from the contents obtained from the Internet and identified as key points with a unique identification number each. This identification endeavour inevitably utilizes the intellectual judgement of the analyst.

QDA Step 3: Synthesising key points into a number of themes: By reviewing the key points noted in Step 2, a set of themes is formulated to categorize the key points. The endeavour can be conceived as an open coding exercise as well as a thematic analysis.

QDA Step 4: Rendering a knowledge structure on the key topic with a mind map: Based on the themes and related key points produced in Step 3, a mind map is constructed to reveal graphically a knowledge structure of the key topic under examination. Typically, the main themes form the main branches of the mind map while the key points make up the sub-branches and attached notes with specific phrases.

The qualitative data analysis adopted here is essentially a thematic analysis with a text-point form and a complementary mind-map form review. Since the contents under review are not scholarly publications, the analysis exercise is not a literature review in Research Methods; rather, it is a qualitative data analysis (QDA) on secondary data (i.e., contents) obtained from Internet search; as a research method, it is unobtrusive.  Because of that, it can be considered as a content analysis (see Content analysis and document study Facebook page listed in the bibliography). With the nature of the qualitative data analysis adopted in this study clarified, the writer presents the analysis findings in the next section.

3.      Thematic analysis findings from the Internet contents on e-tailing in the Hong Kong and mainland China context

From the Internet contents gathered on e-tailing in the Hong Kong and mainland China context, the following eight themes and associated key points are identified by the writer. This exercise comprises QDA steps 1 to 3:

Theme 1: government’s e-role and e-policies

Point 1.1.                “….Chinese authorities are studying new methodologies to assess the economic contribution from industries seen as part of the “new economy” …..The new economy encompasses operators from biotechnology companies to online retailers but the rise of some new and high-growth industries has brought challenges to evaluating economic growth….” (Bloomberg, 2016);

Point 1.2.                 “…For e-tailing to grow, a legal framework needs to evolve that makes sense for a global marketplace…” (InvestHK.gov.hk,  2014);

Point 1.3.                “…state authorities including the General Administration of Customs released a list of more than 1,100 items that could be imported by e-retailers and introduced a new regime for imposing duties on the goods, a move to tighten regulation on cross-border e-commerce….” (Wei, 2016);

Point 1.4.                “….Premier Li Keqiang said that China will further promote its eCommerce development….. cloud computing, online banking, mobile internet, and logistics will be promoted to strengthen the country’s ecommerce infrastructure….   40 billion yuan ($6.38 billion) government fund already in place for investment in China’s emerging industries…” (Mascolo, 2015a);

Point 1.5.                 “Wal-mart has taken full ownership of China’s ecommerce platform Yihaodian, just a few months after the announcement that a Chinese joint-venture partner is not needed anymore for foreign companies to operate an ecommerce business. ……. By taking full ownership of Yihaodian, Wal-mart is not only trying to increase its “size” in China, but is also giving a strong signal regarding the future of its operations in the country, at a time when brick and mortar retailers in the decline due to the online competition….” (Mascolo, 2015b);

Point 1.6.                 “Chinese conglomerates Fosun and Alibaba are betting big on the country’s expected reforms of the health care system, with their own bold plans to expand their online offerings to the sector. But so far the country’s rigidly-regulated market is proving a more bitter pill to swallow than expected, say experts…..” (Ge, 2016a);

Theme 2: e-operational and e-marketing practices

Theme 2a: e-operation

Point 2.1.                “…Retailing focuses on the final transaction, with the business and the customer (B2C).… Emerging sectors, are consumer to business (C2B, Example: Priceline) and consumer to consumer (C2C, Example: EBay) transactions…” (InvestHK.gov.hk,  2014);

Point 2.2.                “…Customer service should be proactive to follow up to ensure delivery, satisfaction with the product, and offer a medium for the customer to dialog with the e-tailer…” (InvestHK.gov.hk,  2014);

Point 2.3.                “….Chinese eCommerce websites seem to Western eyes, too chaotic, too noisy, plenty of links and content saturated. …… … one of the factors that are forcing … “Westernization” of Chinese portals is the emergence of “Responsive Design”…” (Rossell, 2015a);

Point 2.4.                “…It is particularly important to focus on the flow of the transaction process, as the customer is not able to view the entire process without experiencing the process (of the transaction). Thus if the flow of the transaction creates a possible disconnect between the customer's needs to complete the transaction, the customer will abort…” (InvestHK.gov.hk,  2014);

Theme 2b: e-marketing

Point 2.5.                 “…Many e-tailers have focused on significant marketing efforts to attract customers in order to execute transactions, but have not focused on the less glamorous, but equally important, aspect of keeping the customers, by facilitating flawless delivery…” (InvestHK.gov.hk,  2014);

Point 2.6.                 “A new report is predicting Hong Kong’s digital advertising revenue will exceed that of television for the first time next year, driven by online video streaming as retail sales tail off…… The decrease in the number of [mainland Chinese] tourists means total dollars on the retail market has dropped, which has reduced the advertising dollars going into mass media, like TV…     Newspaper publishers will see their share of advertising revenue fall to 3.3 per cent in 2020, down from 9.4 per cent in 2016…” (Woodhouse, 2016);

Point 2.7.                “JD.com, China’s second-largest business-to-consumer e-commerce services company, aims to focus on investment in high-growth business areas this year and improve its profitability after posting mixed results for last year. “We will remain focused on earning the trust of China’s consumers, while building partnerships with top brands,” chief executive Richard Liu Qiangdong said on Tuesday…” (Perez, 2016a);

Point 2.8.                “….Metro China has recently upgraded its China multi-channel ecommerce, metromall.cn, in order to provide a better service to its clients and offer a seamless experience between online, mobile, and offline, a must-have in the highly competitive china ecommerce market…” (Mascolo, 2015c);

Theme 3: supportive technological infrastructure for e-business

Point 3.1.                “… With proximity to Mainland China and other Asian markets, Hong Kong offers the speed and customisation to meet local preferences and support targeted promotional activities. E-retailers benefit not just from its superior ICT infrastructure and well-established logistic networks but also its thriving advertising and media industry, and pool of well-qualified talent…” (InvestHK.gov.hk,  2014);

Point 3.2.                “…With its low internet censorship and peak broadband speeds, Hong Kong’s has a highly developed infrastructure for eCommerce startups. Combine that with a population obsessed with shopping, convenience and mobile phones and you’ve got the perfect breeding ground for an online shopping platform….” (Leung, 2014);

Point 3.3.                 “…Most current personalization solutions focus on personalization based on the user experience with the individual web-site.… Systems need to be developed that allows for personalization across multiple web-sites (the entire web) and the connection between the e-tailer and its physical presence (assuming the customer visits both)….” (InvestHK.gov.hk,  2014);

Point 3.4.                “…credit cards … do not facilitate microtransactions, which clearly would open up new markets that will be exclusive to the web…” (InvestHK.gov.hk,  2014);

Point 3.5.                 “….After failing its plan to become a major payment provider in China due to the so far unbeatable competition of Alibaba, PayPal is now seeking to get a bigger slice of the cake by actively cooperating with the UnionPay, China’s bank card issuer. The new system, called China Connect, will enable Mainland shoppers to purchase goods and services directly from foreign merchants with their UnionPay card thanks to the connection powered by Paypal…” (Mascolo, 2015d);

Theme 4: e-globalization and e-internationalization

Point 4.1.                “…China cross border ecommerce is becoming more and more important to local entrepreneurs as a way to increase sales and find new customers, …. It has been reported that over 200,000 companies are dealing with cross-border e-commerce, and the demand for China eCommerce agency to provide guidance on the ever-changing ecommerce landscape has been growing steadily…” (Mascolo, 2015e);

Point 4.2.                “…It is a great day today for foreign firms which were eyeing the possibility of entering the competitive, yet profitable Chinese ecommerce market. …. a Chinese joint-venture partner is not needed anymore for foreign companies, provided that they operate in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, ……On the other hand, many foreign businesses failed in the past, and finding a local China ecommerce partner could in fact be a suitable solution, due to the differences between China and the western ecommerce landscape.” (Mascolo, 2015f);

Point 4.3.                “…Alibaba Group, the world’s largest e-commerce services provider, is pushing for broader domestic and international online retail expansion this year, emboldened by hefty user growth…” (Perez, 2016b);

Point 4.4.                “…Last week’s Brexit vote in the UK has triggered an online shopping frenzy by Chinese consumers, on the hunt for British-made bargains. The surprise result on Friday immediately sparked a flurry of marketing campaigns by e-commerce platforms, offering cut-price items…” (Ge, 2016b);

Point 4.5.                “Shanghai-based Greenland Holding Group, one of the mainland’s three largest property developers, is speeding up diversification into non-property businesses and seeking to bolster a newly launched cross-border e-commerce trading platform. Greenland said it initially targeted annual sales of 2 billion yuan (HK$2.36 billion), taking a substantial step toward tapping increasing demand for foreign-made consumer products among mainlanders…” (Wei, 2016);

Theme 5: consumer behaviours

Point 5.1.                “….some people still liked to buy music in shops because Hongkongers saw shopping itself as a form of entertainment that's close to home….” (Yiu, 2012);

Point 5.2.                “…Consumers passionate about buying luxury products always react swiftly to any sharp change in the value of foreign currencies...” (Ge, 2016b);

Point 5.3.                “…Hong Kong’s warehouses have some great products, brought in by small to mid-sized importers and distributors, who just can’t find retail shelf space. Hong Kong’s consumers need a lot more than is served by the current set of retailers, and the internet can now bridge that gap…” (Steimle, 2014);

Point 5.4.                “…In recent years, apparently after the 2008 recession, online shopping has become a major trend in every market around the world. Consumers have increased the use of online shopping for price comparisons, searching for products which are not locally available and enjoying the convenience of home-delivery. The boom in global B2C e-commerce has created enormous opportunities for entrepreneurs to start new businesses, for small businesses to grow, and for all businesses to increase productivity….” (Hong Kong Trade Development Council, 2015);

Point 5.5.                “Hong Kong consumers are increasingly likely to make their online purchases through mobile phones or tablets, rather than via desktops…… Mobile commerce should soon overtake traditional e-commerce habits, strengthening this channel of engagement between consumers and retailers…” (RetailTec Innovator editors, 2015);

Point 5.6.                “……Pokemon Go has significantly raised awareness of augmented reality in the mass market….. It is a game that went viral, but the impact is that it is giving the entire augmented reality ­industry a big shot in the arm….” (Soo and Ng, 2016);

Theme 6: m-commerce

Point 6.1.                “…China mobile ecommerce platform grew a staggering 168.3% year-on-year in the beginning of 2015, up to 362bn yuan (US$58bn).…. …. many Chinese shoppers still don’t have access to desktop computers and use phones and tablets for browsing the internet and consuming media. Furthermore, many online stores are actively/competitively trying to attract customers to their mobile ecommerce platform by offering aggressive discounts to mobile users only. Also, mobile payment has become the norm and easy to perform…” (Mascolo, 2015g);

Point 6.2.                “…In addition to security, mobile commerce is also expected to create a platform where industry innovators can further improve the consumer experience, for example through rewards….” (Sun, 2014);

Point 6.3.                “Following Apple's recent announcement of the iPhone 6's mobile payment feature, Apple Pay, experts from both the public and private sector gave positive predictions for the outlook of mobile commerce in Hong Kong at a conference in the city yesterday…” (Sun, 2014);

Point 6.4.                “….Following the huge success of games and other apps, mobile online shops are quickly starting to populate the Apple, Google and Windows stores, ……  In the eCommerce industry, all the big players are starting to rely on mobile apps to generate more sales. Amazon, JD, TaoBao and TMall are just a few examples of online stores that have developed and published their own app.” (Mascolo, 2015h);

Point 6.5.                “…Despite the high mobile technology rate in Hong Kong, it is a small market, and e-commerce companies benefit from serving large populations across which they can spread their costs.…. But as the costs of implementing an e-commerce business fall, e-commerce becomes more entrenched, and larger markets become more crowded, we can see more e-commerce and m-commerce options available in Hong Kong” (Steimle, 2014);

Point 6.6.                “Hong Kong consumers are increasingly likely to make their online purchases through mobile phones or tablets, rather than via desktops…… Mobile commerce should soon overtake traditional e-commerce habits, strengthening this channel of engagement between consumers and retailers…” (RetailTec Innovator editors, 2015) [same as point 5.5];

Theme 7: e-business security and trust

Point 7.1.                “…There is a conflict between the need for privacy on the part of the consumer, and the need to be able to personalize the offering on the part of the e-tailer (which in turn should provide a better experience for the consumer)….” (InvestHK.gov.hk,  2014);

Point 7.2.                “…Alibaba has invested a huge amount of money in order to clean its marketplaces from counterfeit and unauthorised products, not only to please the Chinese crowds, but also to improve its reputation abroad and especially in the US, by cooperating with the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Yet, results are far from being ideal. Creating new listings, or even new shops is very easy and common on TaoBao….” (Mascolo, 2015i);

Point 7.3.                “….very common on TaoBao, where selling fake products is easy and painless. Chinese authorities have recently spoken against this phenomenon, and have pledged to fight counterfeits in order to better regulate the Chinese eCommerce market” (Mascolo, 2015i);

Point 7.4.                “…TaoBao has been unfamously known for being filled with fake products since its very first days. This was in fact one of the reasons for the creations of TMall, a platform developed with the purpose of offering authentic products to Chinese customers….” (Mascolo, 2015k);

Point 7.5.                “More troubles over counterfeit products for Alibaba: the Chinese ecommerce giant has been sued by Kering SA, the company controlling brands such as Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga,  Puma and Volcom. These accusations are nothing new for Alibaba…” (Mascolo, 2015l);

Point 7.6.                 “…From the very beginning Alipay was a great success, the platform was mainly inspired by Paypal online payment solutions functions, but introduced some modifications to make it friendlier to Chinese consumers, who are much more cautious when they buy online than Western consumers. It was in that moment when the other China’s Internet big players, anticipating the online payments market great potential, decided to create their own third party solutions….” (Rossell, 2015b);

Point 7.7.                “….Hong Kong has traditionally been a difficult playground for eCommerce. In the past, locals have been skeptical of sharing their bank info online, and the high concentration of shops virtually everywhere in the city have led many to simply dismiss eCommerce as “useless”. Yet, boosted by the growth of eCommerce, more and more companies are discovering the advantages of opening an online shop in Hong Kong….” (Mascolo, 2015m);

Theme 8: e-innovation needs and implemented e-initiatives

Point 8.1.                “…Legacy businesses are those businesses that had a significant market presence prior to the web, and are looking to the web to extend their business. For these businesses, the web is a disruptive technology..….” (InvestHK.gov.hk,  2014);

Point 8.2.                “….Legacy businesses are liable to suffer from their own cultural inertia, thus believing business as usual is the best way forward…” (InvestHK.gov.hk,  2014);

Point 8.3.                “…Despite the high mobile technology rate in Hong Kong, it is a small market, and e-commerce companies benefit from serving large populations across which they can spread their costs.…. But as the costs of implementing an e-commerce business fall, e-commerce becomes more entrenched, and larger markets become more crowded, we can see more e-commerce and m-commerce options available in Hong Kong” (Steimle, 2014) [same as point 6.5];

Point 8.4.                “…The torrent of technological changes in the past couple of decades may have swept away the numerous music shops that once dotted Hong Kong, …..  this has mainly happened because of the internet, where plenty of sites offer music for free. And even those who are willing to pay prefer devices like the iPod or smartphones and buy their music from online retailers such as iHong Kong…”  (Yiu, 2012)

Point 8.5.                “Mainland e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding has implemented a sweeping restructuring of Taobao, its online retail services unit, in a bid to stay ahead of the competition and better engage more customers…   “The new operating structure ….. split Taobao into three wholly owned subsidiaries focused on specific e-commerce market segments. Taobao Mall runs the online shopping portal where international brands and major retailers sell directly to consumers, while Taobao Marketplace is responsible for social networking website Taojianghu, small consumer-to-consumer transactions and the Juhuasuan group -buying portal. The eTao shopping search engine, which Taobao launched in October to help users scour the internet at large for products and services, now also covers the Taoke online advertising platform….” (Anon, 2011);

Point 8.6.                “…In 2015, store-based retailers continued seeing consistent strategic expansion into the online marketplace operated by 3rd party merchants as well as their own specialist online stores…” (Euromonitor International, 2016);

Point 8.7.                “…Internet trading is expected to catch on quickly among retail investors following today's launch of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing's (HKex) new online stock trading function…….
The AMS/3's online function enables customers of participating brokers to trade local stocks from their personal computers or mobile phones, instead of calling their brokers….” (Yiu and Yeung, 2000);

Point 8.8.                “A massive US$9.6 billion offer to take private Qihoo 360 Technology, the biggest internet security service provider in China, has fanned a surge in speculation over the potential delisting of other Chinese companies in the United States….  The majority of overseas-listed Chinese internet companies operate under the VIE, or variable interest entity, structure. This setup allows a Chinese company — such as Alibaba Group — to form a new corporation abroad that can get listed overseas. That entity remains linked with the Chinese firm through certain agreements….” (Perez, 2015);

Point 8.9.                “Shanghai-based Greenland Holding Group, one of the mainland’s three largest property developers, is speeding up diversification into non-property businesses and seeking to bolster a newly launched cross-border e-commerce trading platform. Greenland said it initially targeted annual sales of 2 billion yuan (HK$2.36 billion), taking a substantial step toward tapping increasing demand for foreign-made consumer products among mainlanders…” (Wei, 2016) [same as point 4.5];

Point 8.10.            “…Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group and Suning, a leading home appliances and consumer electronics retailer, plan to invest 5 billion yuan (HK$5.9 billion) in a partnership aimed at shifting consumers from bricks-and-mortar retailing to the internet….. Over the next few years the two companies will invest in logistics and after-sales service so as to further integrate the current online sales channels with physical outlets…”  (Kwong, 2016);

Point 8.11.            “Pure-plays are now looking to invest in significant traditional infrastructure (Amazon in warehouses) and/or in traditional businesses. These moves underscore the importance of the relationship between the virtual and physical presence…” (InvestHK.gov.hk, 2014);

These eight themes and related points illustrate the main contemporary e-tailing activities and viewpoints in Hong Kong and mainland China as primarily reported in newspapers. A study of them is very much a kind of interpretive content analysis on this kind of materials found on the Internet. In nature, the analysis exercise involves subjective judgement by the writer in the selection of points from the contents. With this list of points, a reader can, for example, study facts and viewpoints in the world of e-tailing in Hong Kong/ mainland China by comparing them with concepts and ideas from the academic sources. Alternatively, a reader could read it purely for gaining understanding on contemporary real-life e-tailing practices and thinking in Hong Kong/ mainland China. To carry out the next step of the qualitative data analysis (i.e., QDA step 4), the writer produces a mind map based on the themes and points identified above.

4.      Mind mapping as a complementary exercise with thematic analysis

Mind mapping is useful for enabling learners to grasp more ideas on a study theme with engagement and fun. It renders in a colourful diagram the knowledge structure on a study theme based on a content analysis on a set of study materials. In our case, the eight themes and points from the study materials obtained from the Internet have already been identified and presented by the writer in the previous section. They are now incorporated into a mind map as shown in Figure 1.

Referring to Figure 1, the eight main branches of the mind map correspond to the eight themes identified in the text-based thematic analysis in the previous section while the sub-branches and attached nodes with phrase labels are associated to the points recognized. Also, it should be pointed out that the main branch of “e-operational and e-marketing practices” has forked out to the “e-operation” and “e-marketing” branches and that of “e-globalization and e-internationalization” also has two sub-branches, namely, “e-globalization” and “e-internationalization” (re: Figure 1). As to the other sub-branches and notes in Figure 1, for instances, “music buying” sub-branch on the “consumer behaviour” main branch is associated with point 5.1; and “seamless customer experience” sub-branch on the “e-marketing” main branch is related to point 2.8. The mind mapping-based qualitative data analysis is complementary to the text-based one, see Literature on mind mapping Facebook page for further information. This idea of a complementary mind-mapping-based qualitative data analysis is precisely what has been illustrated in this paper.

5.      Concluding remarks

Due to the evolving and idiosyncratic nature of e-tailing, it is useful to conduct a qualitative data analysis of its practices and thinking in specific places, such as Hong Kong/ mainland China. This is what has been done in this paper as a 4-step process (i.e. QDA steps 1 to 4). The resultant findings, in the form of a set of themes and associated points as well as a mind map, portray an image on the updated knowledge structure on e-tailing in the setting of Hong Kong/ mainland China. Readers who are interested in e-tailing as an academic discipline or as a professional field of management practice should find the analysis result useful. Besides, e-commerce educators may be interested in using this paper for teaching purpose. Finally, this illustrative mind-mapping based qualitative data analysis is relevant to the study of managerial intellectual learning (MIL) (re: Managerial intellectual learning Facebook page); in this regard, this paper also has academic value to the MIL study.

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