Improving the marketing mechanism in enhancing the competitiveness of trade enterprises in the Bukhara region: digital opportunities and foreign experience

Abstract

The article analyses the competitive environment of trade enterprises in the Bukhara region using official statistics for 2015-2024, assesses the contribution of digital infrastructure to trade development and summarises foreign experience in improving the marketing mechanism in the trade sector. The study applies CPI-based deflation, compound annual growth rates, elasticity estimation, correlation analysis and the first-difference method. The volume of trade services grew 6.6-fold in current prices and 2.5-fold in real terms (10.9% per year), while real growth slowed from 22.3% in 2016 to 5.4% in 2023. The elasticity of trade with respect to gross regional product equals 1.05, indicating that growth was driven mainly by overall economic expansion. The strong correlation between internet coverage and real per capita trade (r = 0.99) is not confirmed in annual changes, suggesting that digital infrastructure does not by itself translate into competitive advantage. Based on the experience of South Korea, Singapore, Germany, China and India, directions for improving the marketing mechanism of the region's trade enterprises are proposed.