Assessment Methodology for Digital Presence of E-Commerce and Retail Enterprises: Conceptual Foundations and Performance Indicator System
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35774/Keywords:
digital presence, digital presence assessment, e-commerce, retail, benchmarking, digital marketingAbstract
Digital presence has become a critical determinant of enterprise competitiveness in the e-commerce and retail sectors; however, the concept lacks a universally accepted definition and a unified measurement framework in the academic literature. Existing approaches (technological, marketing-oriented, index-based, and strategic) capture only partial aspects of digital presence and do not integrate technical, search, behavioural, and social dimensions into a single assessment system. This study aims to develop a comprehensive methodology for assessing the digital presence of e-commerce and retail enterprises based on open analytical data. This research employs a critical synthesis of four conceptual approaches, structural decomposition to substantiate a four-dimensional framework, and a comparative ranking method to construct an integrated Digital Presence Index (DPI). Drawing on this synthesis, an original definition is proposed: enterprise digital presence is an integral, dynamic characteristic of a brand’s visibility, discoverability, and engagement in the digital environment that is measurable and suitable for comparative competitive positioning. The proposed methodology comprises three sequential blocks: (1) a digital presence audit across four dimensions, namely technical (Core Web Vitals: LCP, INP, TTFB, CLS), search (organic and paid traffic share, Authority Score), behavioural (Bounce Rate, Pages per Visit, Visit Duration), and social (Engagement Rate, Sentiment Score), using Google PageSpeed Insights, SimilarWeb, and Semrush; (2) two-level benchmarking against e-commerce market leaders and specialised segment competitors; and (3) an integrated Scorecard based on the 5-3-1 ranking principle. Unlike existing approaches, the proposed methodology integrates all four dimensions into a unified two-level benchmarking system for e-commerce and retail companies. Further research should address empirical validation, the development of industry-specific KPI weighting coefficients, and extension to mobile applications and omnichannel integration metrics.
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