Title: The efficiency of e-commerce in the EU logistics sector

Authors: Milena Kajba; Borut Jereb; Marjan Sternad

Addresses: Faculty of Logistics, University of Maribor, Mariborska Cesta 7, 3000 Celje, Slovenia ' Faculty of Logistics, University of Maribor, Mariborska Cesta 7, 3000 Celje, Slovenia ' Faculty of Logistics, University of Maribor, Mariborska Cesta 7, 3000 Celje, Slovenia

Abstract: Advanced technologies help optimise product movement through supply chains, where electronic administration of logistics commerce is available. It represents an essential player in the development of logistics and distribution networks. Based on the average added value in the logistics sector in EU countries in 2021, the efficiency of e-commerce in the logistics sector by using a data envelopment analysis (DEA) can be calculated. The DEA calculation is based on the available statistical IT-oriented variables for each country as the input to the calculation and the logistics sector turnover in total enterprise turnover as the output. To better understand how countries are efficient, cluster analysis was used to classify the countries into three clusters according to the added value in the logistics sector in the year 2021. The results show more significant variation in the efficiency of e-commerce in the logistics sector between countries, despite similar IT input indicators between them.

Keywords: e-commerce sales; information technology; IT indicators; logistics; supply chain; logistics sector turnover; ERP software; digital subscriber line; DSL; DEA; cluster analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJETRADE.2023.133348

International Journal of Electronic Trade, 2023 Vol.1 No.1, pp.59 - 73

Received: 08 Dec 2022
Accepted: 21 Jan 2023
Published online: 12 Sep 2023 *