<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<bold>Background:</bold> Information and communication technologies (ICTs) gained prevalent organizational and structural value in the modern economy. E-commerce is one of the sectors directly influenced by technological change. However, not all countries have the same opportunities to develop e-commerce growth; there are significant discrepancies in ICT utilization worldwide, known as the digital divide.
<bold>Objectives:</bold> The purpose of this paper is to explore the level of difference among European countries regarding the e-commerce functionalities in their enterprises using a cluster analysis.
<bold>Methods/Approach:</bold> To accomplish the paper goal, the k-means cluster analysis was conducted on the Eurostat data from 2019. Enterprises from 28 European countries were taken into consideration. The Kruskal-Wallis test is used to explore if the differences among clusters regarding the digital development, measured by the Digital Economy and Society Index are significant.
<bold>Results:</bold> The investigation confirmed that there are significant differences among European countries regarding the development of e-commerce. However, a similar level of e-commerce is not related to economic and digital development.
<bold>Conclusions:</bold> Since the relationship between economic development and e-commerce development in European countries is not linear, country-level policies are likely to be significant factors driving e-commerce development, which leads to the need for further investigation of this issue.
</abstract>

Background: Information and communication technologies (ICTs) gained prevalent organizational and structural value in the modern economy. E-commerce is one of the sectors directly influenced by technological change. However, not all countries have the same opportunities to develop e-commerce growth; there are significant discrepancies in ICT utilization worldwide, known as the digital divide.
Objectives: The purpose of this paper is to explore the level of difference among European countries regarding the e-commerce functionalities in their enterprises using a cluster analysis.
Methods/Approach: To accomplish the paper goal, the k-means cluster analysis was conducted on the Eurostat data from 2019. Enterprises from 28 European countries were taken into consideration. The Kruskal-Wallis test is used to explore if the differences among clusters regarding the digital development, measured by the Digital Economy and Society Index are significant.
Results: The investigation confirmed that there are significant differences among European countries regarding the development of e-commerce. However, a similar level of e-commerce is not related to economic and digital development.
Conclusions: Since the relationship between economic development and e-commerce development in European countries is not linear, country-level policies are likely to be significant factors driving e-commerce development, which leads to the need for further investigation of this issue.

Enterprise Digital Divide: Website e-Commerce Functionalities among European Union Enterprises

The University of Osijek, Faculty for Dental Medicine & Health, Osijek

Business Systems Research Journal

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Background: Information and communication technologies (ICTs) gained prevalent organizational and structural value in the modern economy. E-commerce is one of...

Enterprise Digital Divide: Website e-Commerce Functionalities among European Union Enterprises

Published Online: Jun 04, 2021

Page range: 197 - 215

Received: Jan 27, 2021

Accepted: Mar 17, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/bsrj-2021-0013

Keywords
e-commerce, website functionalities, digital divide, European Union

© 2021 Božidar Jaković et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Enterprise Digital Divide: Website e-Commerce Functionalities among European Union Enterprises

Published Online: Jun 04, 2021

Page range: 197 - 215

Received: Jan 27, 2021

Accepted: Mar 17, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/bsrj-2021-0013

Keywordse-commerce, website functionalities, digital divide, European Union

© 2021 Božidar Jaković et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords
e-commerce, website functionalities, digital divide, European Union