Pest Analysis of the E-commerce Industry: The Case of Greece

Abstract

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) has shown to be a critical driver of economic development and has the ability to boost efficiency and productivity in many countries. In the last years, e-commerce has seen rapid growth, especially during the pandemic of COVID-19. Specifically, Greece saw an increase in the number of Internet users who made online purchases and the total revenues of e-commerce transactions. Despite this growth, Greece still has a slow pace of digital transformation compared to other countries of the European Union. The purpose of this paper was to discuss the future of e-commerce in Greece and investigate the factors of the external macro-environment that can be an opportunity or a threat to Greek e-tailing. PEST analysis was used to examine the political, economic, sociocultural and technological factors that are related to the digital transformation of Greek retail stores. The analysis showed that the e-tailing industry is facing significant threats, but at the same time, it can take advantage of the opportunities created by the external environment. Although there is a trend towards the digital transition of retailing, the state should support both entrepreneurs and consumers.