COVID-19 containment policies, digitalization and sustainable development goals: evidence from Alibaba’s administrative data

The impact of digital platforms on the implementation of the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially the business sustainability of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), under different containment policies during and after the COVID-19 pandemic has not yet been studied in detail. Using detailed administrative data from Alibaba Group’s online on-demand food delivery platform, we found that the digital platform contributed to the food security, wellbeing, employment and business sustainability of MSMEs both during and after the pandemic. We uncovered merchants’ heterogeneous responses to the COVID-19 pandemic during and after the implementation of different containment policies in China. On the extensive margin, the period of complete lockdown left long-term scarring on online merchants by decreasing the number of entrants, especially in the cooked food industry. In contrast, on the intensive margin, chain stores, especially those with large chain networks or multiapp stores, exhibited stronger resilience than their counterparts during and after lockdown. Thus, specialization (at the outlet level) and wider coverage (at the network level) emerged as key factors that enable business sustainability under challenging economic circumstances.