Rodica-Manuela Gogonea

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in notable transformations of the commerce landscape, particularly in the realm of electronic commerce. This sector has experienced a precipitous advancement, characterized by substantial modifications of online business under-takings, encompassing both products and services. The aim of the current research was to explore the similarities and differences between European Union member states in the context of e-commerce in the post-pandemic period, taking into consideration the population’s level of education, the risk of poverty, as well as households’ access to the internet. The analysis was conducted for the year 2021, which represented the most recent year for which data were available, and was based on the application of the hierarchical cluster methodology, which included the Ward method and the Robust Tests of Equality of Means (Welch and Brown–Forsythe). Five clusters resulted, which included a minimum of three countries and a maximum of nine. The present study focused on examining the similarities and disparities within clusters, as well as among countries belonging to those clusters. These observed similarities and disparities are believed to be the outcome of various indicators that influence the realm of electronic commerce, and they are contingent upon the economic development level of each country and their ability to cope with the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The information obtained in this study pertains to the future of electronic commerce in the sense of identifying premises that allow the development and application of development strategies.

Evaluating and comparing the sustainable development of regions or countries is fundamental in the management of economic and social systems. From the multitude of tools and means for qualitative and quantitative assessment of the level of sustainable development, which ensure the comparability of the performances of each state, there is a set of indicators known as the Sustainable Society Index, originally developed by the Dutch Sustainable Society Foundation and later developed by TH Köln–University of Applied Sciences. Taking this into account, the objective of the undertaken research was to identify the stages and the similarities and disparities between the European states grouped into the four regions (East, North, South and West), as well as the positioning of Romania in this European context. The obtained results emphasize the fact that between the four European regions, as well as between their component states, there are both similarities and differences, especially in areas such as Well-balanced Society, Climate and Energy, and Economic Well-being regarding the values and implicitly the stage of development of sustainable societies. The article is intended to be a catalyst for discussions on understanding the causes which produce differences regarding the sustainability of European states in the context of the EUs commitment to the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development. Additional efforts are needed in the recovery and resilience process, especially in Eastern and Southern European countries.

The planning of activities of e-commerce enterprises and their behavior has been influenced by the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The behavior of e-commerce enterprises has been highlighted at the level of EU countries through an analysis elaborated on four variables: the value of e-commerce sales, cloud computing services, enterprises that have provided training to develop/upgrade the ICT skills of their personnel, e-commerce, customer relationship management (CRM) and secure transactions. Using the hierarchical clustering method, analysis was carried out on these variables to identify certain economic and behavioral patterns of e-commerce activity from 2018 and 2020. The study of the relationships involved in the e-commerce activity of these enterprises is reflected in models of the economic behavior of 31 European states in relation to the targeted variables. The results show that the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are strongly manifested in the direction of the evolution of each indicator but differ from one country to another. The trends depend on the level of development and the particularities of each country’s economy in adapting to the repercussions reported in relation to the level of impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is highlighted by the significant regrouping of countries in 2020 compared with 2018 in relation to the average values of the indicators. The results show that, in 2020, the most significant percentages of the value of e-commerce sales were recorded in Belgium, Ireland and Czechia, as in 2018. In e-commerce, customer relationship management and secure transactions, Denmark and Sweden were superior in 2020 to the countries mentioned above, which were dominant in 2018. For the other two indicators, Finland and Norway were the top countries included in the analysis in both years. The conclusion supports the continuous model of e-commerce enterprise behavior in order to meet the requirements of online customers.