Competitiveness of trade enterprises in building and finishing materials’ market in pandemic conditions

Don State Technical University, 344000, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

^* Corresponding author: olga.kovalenkowa@yandex.ru

Abstract

The article examines the impact of new economic conditions against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic on the trade enterprises competitiveness using the example of the market of building and finishing materials. The aim of the study is to identify the qualities that a manager, who is able to bring an enterprise out of a crisis state with the least consequences for it, should possess, to develop a model for managing the competitiveness of trade enterprises by forming a set of corrective measures aimed at ensuring the competitiveness of services accompanying the trade in construction and finishing materials. Theoretical studies were carried out using the methods of system analysis and generalization of the existing scientific developments in the field of managing the trade enterprises’ competitiveness [1]. The methods of statistical analysis were used to determine the crisis impact assessment on the competitiveness of trade enterprises and to identify the competitive advantages of the industrial analyzed segment. As a result of the study, the following results were obtained.: - analysis of trends in the retail industry revealed the main problems of trade enterprises in the context of the crisis caused by the spread of a new coronavirus infection; - the use of the fundamental principles of the formation and maintenance of the organization’s competitive advantages made it possible to determine the competitive advantages of trading enterprises in the market of building and finishing materials, using digital technologies in business, allowing to maintain a stable position in industrial market; - relying on a system of long-term competitive advantages, the main activity areas of trade enterprises were identified, which, thanks to corrective solutions, are able to ensure sustainable development in the context of overcoming the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.