Research topic
Impact of digital transformation on enhancing consumer safety and security: An exploratory study of
the UK e-commerce sector

2.2. Background
Present-day business organisations have been facing the need to implement digital transformation
across their business operations, which will result in an improvement in the overall performance
across the global markets. According to the opinions and arguments of Llopis-Albert et al. (2021),
the implementation of digital transformation techniques will help the given organisation to improve
the performance of the company across the global markets of operation. The introduction of digital
transformation across the business operations maintained by multinational organisations helps in the
overall improvement of the issues across the global markets, especially in terms of the use of
technological developments across the global markets of operation.

2.3. Rationale
The implementation of digital transformation across the global business sectors, especially the e-
commerce sector, has led to several issues in terms of the safety and security maintained by
customers across the global markets. The introduction of digital transformation across globally
active e-commerce businesses has been dealing with the increase in the use of technologically
advanced factors. According to Rathore (2023), this often leads to the misuse of technologically
advanced features, which in the long run has helped to improve the need for various measures that
would protect the data and information of the target clients. The following study will discuss the
various client security and safety measures that would help enhance the popularity of e-commerce
business firms across the UK boundaries.

2.4. Personal interest
The integration of technology across the global business sectors has helped in the overall
development of the use of technology by individuals on a daily basis. I am extremely intrigued by
ways in which technology could also be used to deal with the increase in safety and security
measures, which, in the long run, will help enhance the popularity of the given company across the
global markets. This helped me align my interests with academic research. Thus, I chose this topic
for further research and to gain better insight into the nuances of the given study.

Section 3: Research Aim.
The proposed dissertation aims to understand the impact of digital transformation on the
enhancement of customer safety and security, especially across the e-commerce sector, which is
active within the territorial boundaries of the United Kingdom.
The following section highlights the objectives of the given research.
 To discuss the factors affecting customer safety and security
 To discuss the impacts of digital transformation on customer safety and security
 To discuss the challenges in ensuring customer safety and security across the UK e-
commerce sector
 To present effective recommendations that will assist in the improvement of customer safety
and security with the use of digital transformation tools.
The research questions that the proposed dissertation aims to answer are presented herein.
 What are the factors affecting customer safety and security?
 What are the impacts of digital transformation on customer safety and security?
 What are the challenges in ensuring customer safety and security across the UK e-
commerce sector?

Section 4: Literature review.

4.1. Introduction
The e-commerce sector across the United Kingdom has been highly influenced by the
implementation of Industry 4.0 and digital transformation techniques. As per the opinions of Chen et
al. (2021), the introduction of technology has helped the concerned retailers that are active will in the
territorial boundaries of the United Kingdom to improve their business processes which has also
maintained a positive impact on the overall performance of these organisations as well as the
revenues that are generated by the companies.

4.2. Factors affecting customer safety and security
Customer security is affected by several factors that are generally implemented across e-commerce
platforms and the e-commerce industry at large. As highlighted by Kraus et al. (2021), the protection
of the privacy of the concerned organisational clients is one of the major factors that have been
affecting the safety and security of the concerned client. The protection of customer privacy is one of
the major factors that lead to the development of credibility and fast on the part of the target
customers and helps the concerned organisations avoid reputational damage as well as legal
liabilities across the chosen operational markets. In the words of Andriushchenko et al. (2020),
financial institutions associated with e-commerce activities should maintain strong and efficient
security measures for the protection of consumer data. This will also help in improving the
stakeholder engagement of the target clients with the given company. Saarikko et al. (2020) state
that customer safety and security are also influenced by the customer service that is extended by
the concerned organisations. The implementation of effective consumer services would help
enhance the target organisation in the reduction of hostile behavioural patterns that are maintained
by the target clients. This will also help in enhancing the reputation of the given company which
would eventually help attract a greater number of clients towards the given company. Abdulquadri et
al. (2021) argue that maintaining an effective brand reputation would help the concerned
organisation gain greater consumer trust in terms of online transactions that are undertaken by the
new clients of the company. This would help deal with the improvement in consumer safety and
security, especially across the e-commerce sector within the UK markets.

4.3. Digital transformation across the UK e-commerce sector
Cichosz et al. (2020) claim that the implementation of advanced technology use within the e-
commerce sector of the United Kingdom has helped in improving the customer services,
management of the supply chain and also enhanced the in-store as well as online experience that are
maintained by the concerned clients. As per the arguments of El Khatib et al. (2022), the introduction
of digital transformation has led to a major shift of clients from the offline retail mode towards the

Online retail mode. The adaptation of digital transformation techniques has brought about a
substantial shift in the organisational and cultural passage of business. Diener and Špaček (2021)
highlight that the use of digital transformation across the e-commerce sectors has led to an increase in
ease in terms of the shopping experiences that are maintained by the target clients of the organisation
which has resulted in increased revenue generation for the concerned organisations, especially retail
organisations, active within the territorial boundaries of the United Kingdom
4.4. Impact of digital transformation on consumer safety
Digital transformation techniques as implemented within the e-commerce organisations active across
the territorial boundaries of the United Kingdom are observed to influence consumer safety in several
manners. One of the major factors that could be highlighted in the scenario refers to the various
health as well as safety issues that are generated from the use of digital technology across the e-
commerce and retail sectors. In the opinions of Dayıoğlu and Turker (2021) the various products that
have been incorporating digital technology like virtual reality, internet of things and artificial
intelligence may result in increased risk for the customer on the grounds of their safety as well as
their health. It could be stated in this regard that the advancements in the software often lead to
increased functionality of products resulting in the increased risk of software failure issues in the
internet connectivity and majorly the maintenance of cyber security which is of huge importance for
the concerned organisational clients and the reputation of the given company. The increase in the use
of digital transformation techniques across e-commerce platforms often leads to issues of data
privacy and threatens the cybersecurity norms as implemented by these organisations. The concerned
organisations should implement improved security measures to deal with cyber security failures there
by reading to the protection of data of the target client eventually leading to the development of trust
of the target clients. This in the long run will help enhance the brand popularity and competitive
positioning of the given company across global markets, especially the UK markets.
4.5. Challenges in maintaining consumer security
Some of the major challenges that jeopardize consumer security, especially across the e-commerce
platforms are discussed in the section. Manser Payne et al. (2021) highlight that the reviews of
passwords for a longer time is one of the major issues that have been affecting the maintenance of
consumer security especially in terms of implementing digital transformation across the e-commerce
sector active within the UK markets. This is one of the most common vulnerabilities that have been
leading to breaches in consumer security across the given e-commerce platforms. In the opinion of
Attaran (2020), phishing attacks are another major reason that has been leading to issues in consumer

Security during the implementation of digital transformation across the e-commerce sector within the
territorial boundaries of the United Kingdom. As argued by Winarsih and Fuad (2021), another major
challenging area associated with data protection across the e-commerce sector refers to the use of
ransomware. Consumer security could also be jeopardised due to the connectivity maintained by the
use of the Internet of Things. Van Veldhoven and Vanthienen (2022) highlight that utilising the
Internet of Things leads to an increase in the vulnerability points which could be exploited by
intruders to gain access to the financial and personal information of the organisational clients thereby
leading to the jeopardising of consumer security across the e-commerce sector within the operational
markets of the United Kingdom.
4.6. Mitigatory measures
The above-mentioned challenges could be mitigated by ensuring effective training that is extended to
the organisational staff, especially in terms of increased knowledge and skill development activities.
Brunetti et al. (2020) highlight the fact that participation in knowledge-enhancing workshops and
even activities that will be helpful for enhancing the skills of the given employees will help them
understand various activities that should be undertaken in order to prevent the breaches of data and
security especially the personal as well as financial information that is provided by the clients wild
conducting transactions across the various e-commerce platforms maintained within the territorial
boundaries of the United Kingdom. These organisations are also advised to raise awareness among
the clients. Matarazzo et al. (2021) highlight that the concerned organisation should maintain
effective programs for training as well as trading awareness regarding the benefits of frequent
password change and refraining from using old passwords. The target clients could also be made
aware of the issues that might arise due to the lack of effective maintenance of the smart devices that
they have been using. This might lead to increased chances of data breaches due to the lack of
updated security measures that are available on the given smart device. The governmental bodies
could also help in the scenario by raising awareness regarding various websites that are known for
collecting and selling the data of the target clients resulting in the jeopardization of the consumer
security across the chosen e-commerce platform.
4.7. Literature gap
The above discussion highlights various issues that might result from the implementation of digital
transformation, especially in terms of the security and safety of consumers. However, according to
the best knowledge of the researcher, very limited research has been conducted on the impact of
digital transformation techniques on consumer safety and security. The current research will aim to

Discuss the overall issues that might affect consumer safety and security like data breaches and
phishing.

The given dissertation will be completed using the positivism research philosophy since the
proposed topic of research is based on gaining insights into the impact of implementing digital
transformation techniques on customer security and safety, especially within the e-commerce sector
that is active within the territorial boundaries of the United Kingdom (Park et al. 2020). The approach
proposed topic of the dissertation will be the deductive research approach since the given study
will focus on developing generalizations hypotheses or theories which will be tested against the data
that is collected for the completion of the given study (Casula et al. 2021). The dissertation will be
completed using the primary quantitative research method and will focus on the selection and
implementation of the mono-method research choice (Nanthagopan 2021; Miller et al. 2021). This
will help maintain clarity in understanding the opinions and perceptions of customers regarding the
influence of digital transformation techniques on their safety and security. the researcher will
undertake survey questionnaire methods for collecting data. The dissertation will be based on data
collected from 100 participants of the survey. This data will be analysed using statistical tools that
will utilise pie charts and put forth a graphical representation of the collected data to achieve
meaningful results and outcomes.