Improving the E-Commerce Business Model in a Sustainable Environment

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to develop a comprehensive methodological approach to assess the sustainability of the e-commerce business model based on the integration of key performance indicators into a single vector of business model sustainability. The proposed vector approach allows for predicting and evaluating the effects of different kinds of measures, identifying and implementing the most effective tools for sustainable e-commerce business development. The methodology of this study is based on correlation, cluster and regression analysis. The scientific contribution of this study is the proposed methodological approach, which not only allows one to analyze business model sustainability, but also to compare companies in a competitive environment to determine the priorities of their functioning to achieve leadership positions on the background of sustainable development. The correlation analysis proved that in modern conditions, both economic and environmental components are significant for business model effectiveness in e-commerce. The clustering of the studied e-commerce companies provided an opportunity to take into account the peculiarities of the studied companies, to group them by similar performance indicators. This made it possible to develop more accurate regression models for each cluster. In this case, there is a correlation between the sustainability vector of the business model of a company and its assignment to a particular cluster. The conducted modeling and determination of the level of business model sustainability allowed for determining a relationship between it and the performance of e-commerce companies in the context of economic, environmental and social dimensions. At the same time, the results show that increasing the sustainability vector brings a company closer to the business sustainability benchmark.