Assessment of the relationship between sales efficiency and e-commerce in private dental offices in an emerging Latin-American city

Abstract

Background Worldwide, e-commerce, as a business modality that uses information and communication technologies to make transactions of products and services, has become an indispensable part of the global retail market, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. E-commerce has experienced accelerated growth in recent years, driven by factors such as increased internet penetration, the expansion of mobile devices, user confidence and innovation of digital platforms. Dental offices have found e-commerce an opportunity to improve their competitiveness. The aim of the research was to establish the relationship between the indicators of efficiency maximization in sales and the type of modality of commerce used most by private dental offices within an emerging economy context in Latin-American city. Methods The study was classified as applied research with a non-experimental, correlational and exploratory design. The sample consisted of 34 private dental offices. A simple random probabilistic sampling was chosen. An instrument containing thirteen items including questions about payment, appointments or consultations, and advertising and indicators of efficiency maximization in sales, was used. Results The assessment of the relationship between the efficiency maximization indicators in sales and the commerce employed shows that, beyond cost reduction (PR=8, 95% CI [1.37; 46.81], p=0.021), the type does not have a statistically significant impact on the increase in clients, sales, revenues, and profit increase. (PR=3, 95% CI [0.28; 32.21], p=0.364). Conclusions E-commerce is significantly correlated with a reduction in operational costs.