DIGI-PME

Digitalization & Intelligence of Digital Data in SMEs and Territories

Digitalisation & Intelligence des Données Numériques dans les PME et les Territoires

Project manager : MEATCHI Sourou

Budget : 30000€

Financing :  PULSAR project, funded at 50 % by the university and at 50 % by the region

Scientific Team

Summary

Faced with digital platforms and multinationals, local businesses (restaurants, bookstores, independent hotels, etc.) are struggling to develop in their territories (Deshayes, 2019c). In this context, it is now legitimate to ask the question about the adequacy between the services offered by local SMEs and the new uses of consumers. This project aims to study the digital strategies adapted to local businesses in order to meet consumers's new expectations.

Particular attention is paid to the following strategies:

• the integration of digital in the value chain of VSEs/SMEs,
• innovation through the exploitation and enhancement of digital data (e.g. Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Open Data, online reviews)
• inter-SME cooperation in digitalization (Deltour et al., 2020).

Goals and issues of the project

Since the 2000s, digital platforms (e.g., Amazon, Booking, Airbnb, etc.) have been able to establish themselves in the market for the distribution of goods and services (Beuscart & Flichy, 2018).

New players are now trying to dominate sectors such as catering (e.g., UberEats, Deliveroo), culture (e.g., NetFlix, Apple TV), transportation (e.g., BlablaCar). Britain's Deliveroo is now investing in "factory kitchens" for meals intended 100% for delivery (Le Parisien, February 2019). Faced with these digital giants, SMEs (independent hotels, traditional restaurants, local cinema and bookstores, etc.) are finding it increasingly difficult to develop in an economy where digital has become an unavoidable component of the value chain. Similarly, the services offered by territories and public authorities (e.g. public transport, broadband access, etc.) do not always seem to be adapted to users' new expectations. In this context, it becomes important to ask whether there is a real adequacy between the digital services offered by SMEs and territories and the new consumer behaviors. This general problematic raises several research questions:
- What are the new expectations of consumers in the age of the digital economy and collaborative consumption?
- In an increasingly digitalized economy, what services can SMEs and territories offer to better meet the new expectations of consumers and users?
- What strategies and levers should SMEs adopt to meet the challenges of the digital economy and disruptive practices?

Thus, the objective of this research project is double. On the one hand, it is to study the new consumption behaviors induced by digital and disruptive offers (e.g., AirB&B, UberEats, virtual museums, digital bookstores). On the other hand, based on theories of diffusion and adoption of technological innovations (Bennaceur, 2019; Davis, 1993; Rogers, 2010), the project aims to analyze the factors and strategies of digital transformation of SMEs and local businesses. Experiments will be carried out on some digital marketing levers (e.g., data marketing, inbound marketing, UX marketing, Click & Collect, dynamic pricing, online recommendation systems, tracking) in order to measure their effects on the performance of SMEs and proximity businesses.