In the current scenario, the entire Middle East is witnessing drastic digitalization, and consumer behavior is also widely affected by the technological development. This has created a platform for the growth of e-commerce (Ecom) in the Middle East through social networking. The success factors that facilitate in transforming the customer relationship management (CRM) to social customer relationship management (SCRM) for achieving electronic customer relationship management (ECRM) are customer values and customer loyalty. These success factors are digitally termed as electronic customer values (ECV) and electronic customer loyalty (ECL). This study has involved 100 digital consumers of Ecom on various social apps and social networking in the Middle East. This study is an empirical analysis where 10 critical success factors are measured to achieve the positiveness of ECV to contribute in ECL success. ECL success can transform CRM to SCRM and build strong ECRM.
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The use of electronic gadgets in Middle East is rapidly growing. Average users are engaged for 6 to 8 hours on digital devices and the duration is increasing every year. The number is estimated to continue to rapidly increase by the end of 2022. The internet has inherent to human’s lives then impose them to successfully adapt to changes (Anaam, E. A., Abu Bakar, K. A., Mohd Satar, N. S., & Ma’arif, M. Y. (2020). Gradually, the internet has replaced traditional mass media in communication (Al-Hawary, S. I. S., & Alhajri, T. M. S. (2020) and also created another way to improve psychological well-being and the quality of life (Melovic, B., Rondovic, B., Mitrovic-Veljkovic, S., Ocovaj, S. B., & Dabic, M. (2020) by fulfilling human’s needs. Internet usage has evolved from mainly being used for seeking information (Anaam, E. A., Abu Bakar, K. A., Mohd Satar, N. S., & Ma’arif, M. Y. (2020) to also include activities such as product purchases, management of finances, social networking, and other activities (Anaam, E. A., Abu Bakar, K. A., Mohd Satar, N. S., & Ma’arif, M. Y. (2020). Companies must be able to adapt to the changes in digitized consumer behavior. This requires industries to enter the digital era for the development of business operational systems (BPS). In Middle East, digital start-ups are continuously being developed. Based on data from the Ministry of Communication and Information of the Middle East (Naim, A., Hussain, M. R., Naveed, Q. N., Ahmad, N., Qamar, S., Khan, N., & Hweij, T. A. (2019), there are overwhelming users who are engaged in online shopping, and this number is increasing every year. This is due to the increasing use of gadgets and the internet in Middle East. The high number of smartphone users have also caused the retail value of Ecom to increase significantly. Therefore, digital businesses in Middle East should continuously improve their BPS to ease consumers in shopping and to increase their confidence and loyalty in digital businesses such as electronic commerce (Kumar, P., Mokha, A. K., & Pattnaik, S. C. (2021).
Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce (Ecom), is a type of business that emerged due to technological advances in regard to carrying out buying and selling of products, services, or even information through the internet [6]. Middle East is a country with rapid Ecom growth. This is proven by data from the Ministry of Communication and Information of the Middle East (Naim, A., Hussain, M. R., Naveed, Q. N., Ahmad, N., Qamar, S., Khan, N., & Hweij, T. A. (2019) that Middle East has the fastest-growing Ecom industry, especially amid Covid 19 outbreak.
The hasten business growth of Ecom in the marketplace is a consequence of the relevant advantages experienced by both consumers and suppliers. For firms, Ecom can be a tool to expand the marketplace quickly and easily, save costs, improve supply chain processes, and facilitate the access of product information to customers (Khan, N., Naim, A., Hussain, M. R., Naveed, Q. N., Ahmad, N., & Qamar, S. (2019). For consumers, the benefits of Ecom transactions include a wider range of options for products and services, increased convenience in conducting transactions anytime and anywhere, availability of detailed product information and reviews, and the possibility to obtain a greater number of products at a lower price (Khan, N., Naim, A., Hussain, M. R., Naveed, Q. N., Ahmad, N., & Qamar, S. (2019).