Sustainable E-commerce: Understanding the Motivations and Challenges

Dear Colleagues,

With the growing number of people taking advantage of e-commerce businesses today, due to the range of products available and the possibility to compare prices, customers have increased their requirements, and now often demand green or sustainable e-commerce shopping (Guo et al., 2018). Companies that follow a sustainable business model with a clear statement of goals and values focused on sustainability attract more consumers and obtain a competitive advantage (Wouter, 2016). For a business model to be considered sustainable, the focus is on all dimensions of sustainability, unlike a traditional business model, which solely focuses on economic sustainability (Sun et al., 2021).

Since companies all over the world are involved in e-commerce, there is a need to ensure that their activities do not put the world into jeopardy by endangering sustainability (Pratap et al., 2022). They need to preserve the environment, avoid environmental destruction, and ensure the continuation of humankind (Choi and Mai, 2018). Where sustainable development is not ensured, there will be negative consequences that may lead to the depletion of ecosystems. Therefore, companies need to adopt user-friendly features that preserve and improve customer relationships.

The growth of e-commerce has led to an increase in orders delivered to customers, resulting in high emissions of CO₂ and even greater traffic congestion in cities. The e-commerce delivery of B2C goods accounts for 61% of the current total e-commerce shipments, which has led to increasing environmental pollution (Kumar et al., 2018). This is not expected to reduce any time soon because of the increase in the number of online shoppers and retailers. Previous studies have shown there is a need to balance and increase knowledge for sustainable e-commerce in virtual marketplaces (Escursell et al., 2021). Studies on sustainable e-commerce and its business models are gaining traction (Oláh et al., 2018), and this continues as a highly topical subject due to the continued increased growth of the digital market. Still, there are several challenges related to e-commerce and sustainability. This Special Issue is seeking studies and theoretical perspectives that explore the motivations and challenges of sustainable e-commerce. Thus, this Special Issue contributes to the growing literature on sustainability in marketing and practice by providing useful insights about the motivations and challenges of sustainable e-commerce.

References

1. Choi, Y.; Mai, D.Q. The Sustainable Role of the E-Trust in the B2C E-Commerce of Vietnam. Sustainability 2018, 10, 291.
2. Escursell, S.; Llorach-Massana, P.; Roncero, M.B. Sustainability in e-commerce packaging: A review. J. Clean. Prod. 2021, 280, 124314.
3. Guo, Y.; Yin, C.; Li, M.; Ren, X.; Liu, P. Mobile e-Commerce Recommendation System Based on Multi-Source Information Fusion for Sustainable e-Business. Sustainability 2018, 10, 147.
4. Kumar, N.; Anusara, J.; Hossin, M.A.; Sarkar, M.K.; Chanthamith, B.; Shah, S.; Russel, M.I.H. Challenges and opportunities of e-commerce in India: Pathway for sustainable e-commerce. Int. J. Eng. Bus. Manag. 2018, 2, 13–21.
5. Oláh, J.; Kitukutha, N.; Haddad, H.; Pakurár, M.; Máté, D.; Popp, J. Achieving Sustainable E-Commerce in Environmental, Social and Economic Dimensions by Taking Possible Trade-Offs. Sustainability 2019, 11, 89.
6. Pratap, S.; Jauhar, S.K.; Daultani, Y.; Paul, S.K. Benchmarking sustainable E-commerce enterprises based on evolving customer expectations amidst COVID-19 pandemic. Bus. Strategy Environ. 2022, 32, 736–752.
7. Sun, M.; Grondys, K.; Hajiyev, N.; Zhukov, P. Improving the E-Commerce Business Model in a Sustainable Environment. Sustainability 2021, 13, 12667.
8. Wouter, V. E-commerce deliveries 2.0: towards a sustainable e-commerce. In Economic and Social Development, Proceedings of the 16th International Scientific Conference on Economic and Social; Varazdin Development and Entrepreneurship Agency: Varazdin, Croatia, 2016; p. 653.

Dr. Gomaa Agag
Dr. Ziad H. Abdelmoety
Dr. Mansour Alyahya
Guest Editors

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• e-commerce
• digital marketing
• sustainable e-commerce
• e-commerce management