IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aes/amfeco/v25y2023is17p1095.html

Sustainable Development of E-commerce in the Post-COVID Times: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Pestle Factors

Author

Listed:
  • Adriana Dima

    (Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania)

  • Elena Radu

    (Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania)

  • Ecaterina Milica Dobrota

    (Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania)

  • Adrian Otoiu

    (Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania)

  • Alina Florentina Saracu

    (Dunarea de Jos University, Galati, Romania)

Abstract

E-commerce represents an essential part of modern business, with a significant growth in recent years. Recent events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have led to a surge in online shopping and a rapid shift towards e-commerce, creating a new normal in the retail industry. To succeed in this changing landscape, it is important for organisations to understand the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental (PESTLE) factors that influence e-commerce. This exploratory research applies a mixed-methods approach to identify the PESTLE factors that affect the e-commerce landscape in post COVID times. The study was conducted by developing a questionnaire for organisations that use e-commerce in their operations and was applied to a sample of 309 Romanian firms, with mixed methods such as principal component analysis (PCA) and multinomial logistic regression. The results suggest that the pandemic has intensified the adoption of e-commerce, and businesses are focused on expanding their online presence and leveraging new technologies to enhance the customer experience. The findings contribute to understanding the PESTLE factors that influence e-commerce and can provide valuable insights for policymakers, businesses, and other stakeholders seeking to make informed decisions that facilitate the sustainable development of e-commerce. Limitations of this research include restricting the sample to Romanian organisations, with results that may be less relevant for other economies. Also, the study focuses on PESTLE factors, leaving other possible influences on e-commerce in the post-COVID period unaddressed.

Suggested Citation

  • Adriana Dima & Elena Radu & Ecaterina Milica Dobrota & Adrian Otoiu & Alina Florentina Saracu, 2023. "Sustainable Development of E-commerce in the Post-COVID Times: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Pestle Factors," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 25(S17), pages 1095-1095, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:aes:amfeco:v:25:y:2023:i:s17:p:1095
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.amfiteatrueconomic.ro/temp/Article_3257.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carrillo, Janice E. & Vakharia, Asoo J. & Wang, Ruoxuan, 2014. "Environmental implications for online retailing," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 239(3), pages 744-755.
    2. Ren, Minglun & Liu, Jiqiong & Feng, Shuai & Yang, Aifeng, 2021. "Pricing and return strategy of online retailers based on return insurance," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    3. Anas A. Al-Bakri & Marios I. Katsioloudes, 2015. "The factors affecting e-commerce adoption by Jordanian SMEs," Management Research Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 38(7), pages 726-749, July.
    4. de Jong,Piet & Heller,Gillian Z., 2008. "Generalized Linear Models for Insurance Data," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521879149, Enero-Abr.
    5. Wagner, Gerhard & Schramm-Klein, Hanna & Steinmann, Sascha, 2020. "Online retailing across e-channels and e-channel touchpoints: Empirical studies of consumer behavior in the multichannel e-commerce environment," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 256-270.
    6. Jia Wang & Xijia Huang, 2018. "The Optimal Carbon Reduction and Return Strategies under Carbon Tax Policy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-14, July.
    7. Shahiduzzaman, Md. & Alam, Khorshed, 2014. "Information technology and its changing roles to economic growth and productivity in Australia," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 125-135.
    8. Nisar, Tahir M. & Prabhakar, Guru, 2017. "What factors determine e-satisfaction and consumer spending in e-commerce retailing?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 135-144.
    9. Catherine Cole & Gilles Laurent & Aimee Drolet & Jane Ebert & Angela Gutchess & Raphaëlle Lambert-Pandraud & Etienne Mullet & Michael Norton & Ellen Peters, 2008. "Decision making and brand choice by older consumers," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 355-365, December.
    10. Anas A. Al-Bakri & Marios I. Katsioloudes, 2015. "The factors affecting e-commerce adoption by Jordanian SMEs," Management Research Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 38(7), pages 726-749, July.
    11. McKay-Nesbitt, Jane & Manchanda, Rajesh V. & Smith, Malcolm C. & Huhmann, Bruce A., 2011. "Effects of age, need for cognition, and affective intensity on advertising effectiveness," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 12-17, January.
    12. Anas A. Al-Bakri & Marios I. Katsioloudes, 2015. "The factors affecting e-commerce adoption by Jordanian SMEs," Management Research Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 38(7), pages 726-749, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rosnita Wirdiyanti & Inka Yusgiantoro & Agus Sugiarto & Aprillia Dwi Harjanti & Indra Yudha Mambea & Subiakto Soekarno & Sylviana Maya Damayanti, 2023. "How does e-commerce adoption impact micro, small, and medium enterprises’ performance and financial inclusion? Evidence from Indonesia," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 2485-2515, December.
    2. Minh-Tai Le, 2024. "Sustainable Evaluation of E-Commerce Companies in Vietnam: A Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Framework Based on MCDM," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-18, May.
    3. Judit Oláh & Nicodemus Kitukutha & Hossam Haddad & Miklós Pakurár & Domicián Máté & József Popp, 2018. "Achieving Sustainable E-Commerce in Environmental, Social and Economic Dimensions by Taking Possible Trade-Offs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-22, December.
    4. Bekzodjon Irnazarov & Zuhriddin Juraev & Boburmirzo Khursanaliyev, 2025. "E-Commerce in Transition Economies: Insights From Uzbekistan on Institutions, Trust, and Platforms," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 5(10), pages 1-20, October.
    5. Matteo Cristofaro & Pier Luigi Giardino & Sanjay Misra & Quoc Trung Pham & Hai Hiep Phan, 2022. "Behavior or culture? Investigating the use of cryptocurrencies for electronic commerce across the USA and China," Management Research Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 46(3), pages 340-368, May.
    6. Jia, Junbo & Xu, Yusen & Li, Wenli, 2024. "A study on the strategic momentum of SMEs’ digital transformation: Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    7. Aiman Sana & Farzana Naheed Khan & Umaima Arif, 2021. "ICT diffusion and climate change: The role of economic growth, financial development and trade openness," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 179-194, December.
    8. Tisdell, Clem, 2014. "Information Technology's Impacts on Productivity, Welfare and Social Change: Second Version," Economic Theory, Applications and Issues Working Papers 195701, University of Queensland, School of Economics.
    9. Hussain, Ammar & Batool, Irem & Akbar, Minhas & Nazir, Marina, 2021. "Is ICT an enduring driver of economic growth? Evidence from South Asian economies," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(8).
    10. Eliza Nichifor & Radu Constantin Lixăndroiu & Silvia Sumedrea & Ioana Bianca Chițu & Gabriel Brătucu, 2021. "How Can SMEs Become More Sustainable? Modelling the M-Commerce Consumer Behaviour with Contingent Free Shipping and Customer Journey’s Touchpoints Optimisation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-27, June.
    11. Zalega, Tomasz, . "Zachowania nabywcze miejskich srebrnych singli w Polsce: wybór produktów rynkowych oraz miejsca dokonywania zakupów," Gospodarka Narodowa-The Polish Journal of Economics, Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie / SGH Warsaw School of Economics, vol. 2024(1).
    12. KUBÍČKOVÁ Lea & VESELÁ Lucie & KORMAŇÁKOVÁ Marcela & VEVERKOVÁ Ekaterina, 2023. "How Does Decoy Pricing Affect Purchasing Decisions?," Studies in Business and Economics, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 18(3), pages 176-197, December.
    13. Banwari Mittal, 2025. "The psychology of online shopping cart abandonment: a scrutiny of the current research framework and building an improved model of the online shopper journey," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 777-803, April.
    14. Zewei Lin & Dungang Liu, 2022. "Model diagnostics of discrete data regression: a unifying framework using functional residuals," Papers 2207.04299, arXiv.org.
    15. Rudra P. Pradhan & Mak B. Arvin & Mahendhiran Nair & Sara E. Bennett & John H. Hall, 2019. "The information revolution, innovation diffusion and economic growth: an examination of causal links in European countries," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 53(3), pages 1529-1563, May.
    16. Inmaculada Peña-Sanchez, 2019. "Applying the Tweedie model for improved microinsurance pricing," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 44(3), pages 365-381, July.
    17. Chunyu Li & Peng Xing & Yanting Li, 2022. "Sustainable Strategy Analysis: Platform Channel Configuration and Slotting Fee Design under Differentiated Quality Investment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-28, December.
    18. Christoph Rheinberger & Hans E. Romang & Michael Bründl, 2013. "Proportional loss functions for debris flow events," Post-Print hal-02643847, HAL.
    19. Claro, Danny P., 2009. "Estimating claim size and probability in the auto-insurance industry: the zeroadjusted Inverse Gaussian (ZAIG) distribution," Insper Working Papers wpe_159, Insper Working Paper, Insper Instituto de Ensino e Pesquisa.
    20. Mencarelli, Rémi & Rivière, Arnaud & Lombart, Cindy, 2021. "Do myriad e-channels always create value for customers? A dynamic analysis of the perceived value of a digital information product during the usage phase," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • L81 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aes:amfeco:v:25:y:2023:i:s17:p:1095. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Valentin Dumitru (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aseeero.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.