Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Vignette Factors of Smartphone Auctions on the Allegro Auction Platform

Abstract

Purpose: The influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on e-commerce sales has been perceived from different points of view. This study focuses on changes in the usage of auction vignette factors on one of the most successful sales platforms, Allegro, at three points in time during the pandemic, considered as the pre-pandemic, deep-pandemic, and post-pandemic state. Design/methodology/approach: The research study uses 3 samples of offers – 320 for the 1st point in time, 259 for the 2nd point in time, and 303 for the 3rd point in time—in the category of Samsung S10 smartphones to determine the changes among the presentation factors belonging to the offers. 22 factors and 5 indexes were examined. Findings: The results show substantial changes in the usage of factors such as shipping cost, the increased importance of “Buy Now” auctions, platform currency, and the decreased importance of “Bid” auctions. The indexes were also proposed in order to adopt a synthetic view of the factor groupings. The shipping index was pointed out as one factor that may be affected by the pandemic. Research limitations/implications: The sampling technique limited the study to a preselected category of smartphones. The category was biased by the use of a non-category brand. Non-category items were removed from the data used. Other limitations include ambiguities involved in the assignment of the factors. Originality/value: The contribution of this study is its examination of a frequently omitted area of factors that buyers use as a first choice when selecting an offer. The uniqueness of the study is covered by the point in time used in the study, i.e. deep-pandemic. Other points in time were based on the announcements of the government of Poland.