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E-commerce is gaining popularity across the globe and Mauritian businesses are also increasingly making use of online platforms to engage in cross-border electronic transactions. However, there are several implications arising from online trading which need to be addressed, among which one is the validity of e-contracts. This research will therefore emphasise on two main components of e-contracts: choice of law and the applicable jurisdiction. While Mauritian laws were amended to give effect to digital signatures and e-agreements, there is no extensive or substantive domestic legal provision on choice of law and jurisdiction. Hence, the purpose of this study is to advocate for a greater clarity on the legal framework governing the applicable law and jurisdiction governing a conflict situation in e-contracts, with the view of increasing trust in international e-commerce and to bring in consistency with international commercial relations. This study will be carried out in the Mauritian context by adopting the black letter approach which will analyse the relevant rules and regulations concerning e-contract formation and validity. Additionally, a comparative analysis will be conducted on the legal framework relating to the applicable law and jurisdiction in e-contracts for selected countries: the European Union and the United States. These countries have been chosen for the comparison due to their high involvement in e-commerce and their advanced as well as comprehensive rules on e-commerce.

Climate change and digitisation are unquestionably the two defining features of this era. Both present immense challenges with unimaginable consequences for humankind while promising enormous rewards for those who can adequately address their adverse effects. These two critical factors must be considered while establishing strategies for the businesses' future operations. Hence, post-pandemic, especially with the rise of online commerce, packages and documents are delivered around the globe nearly every day, propelling the logistics industry's growth. This is not the critical challenge in logistics, the issue of sustainability, particularly as the returns are increasing exponentially, leading to a significant impact on transportation is and its reliance on fossil fuel has made it a prime target for society's growing environmental concerns. Thus, real-time visibility, collaboration and integration in reverse logistics (RL) are imperative for business sustainability. The most applicable Industry 4.0 technologies in RL are the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, blockchain and digital twin that enable the defragmentation of the RL market.

This chapter analyses the technological impact of Industry 4.0 on RL. This research investigates the challenges faced by the logistics industry in the context of sustainability and how digital transformation can bring many potential benefits across the entire value chain. This chapter also presents a guidance for a framework based on the literature review that tends to favour the development of elastic logistics, implying improved company responsiveness to market conditions. The study contributes to the body of literature and the establishment of the framework for planning on the application of various Industry 4.0 technologies in developing eco-friendly and sustainable reverse logistics framework.

This chapter describes the present state and the trends in the Polish information and communications technology (ICT) sector, which today is considered to be one of the most progressively developing part of the national economy. Special attention is given to economic background, ICT employment and governmental policy. Some forecasts for future development were also proposed.

The purpose of this chapter is to present the background, dynamics and future trends in the Polish ICT sector.

The statistical data (Statistics Poland, Eurostat), market reports and scientific articles were analysed. Microsoft Excel and QGIS software was used to analyse the data and visualise the results.

Polish ICT market has stable fundaments, good infrastructure, qualified workers and a good location. Despite the developed infrastructure, e-commerce and e-administration usage is relatively low compared to the average level of EU27. The Polish ICT market specialises in software implementation, IT outsourcing and computer game development. The Polish ICT market development is associated with cloud computing, outsourcing, e-commerce, cybersecurity, big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and Industry 4.0. Poland is also in the top 10 countries for IT outsourcing worldwide, with the leading ICT centers in Warsaw, Cracow and Wrocław.

The growth of the ICT sector was (is) supported also by central programmes and government strategies: Operational Programme Digital Poland, Digital Competence Development Program and Cybersecurity Strategy. In the last 2 years, the development of ICT was also boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Market reports and forecasts show that the sector's future development will be related to artificial intelligence, Industry 4.0 and data analytics and financed by private business and central government contracts. The increase in remote work will also be significant.

The objective of this chapter is to identify the key characteristics of Global Services businesses that will thrive and achieve success in the future. These factors are integrated into three main pillars, which we refer to as the Triple-Win. The first and most obvious pillar is technology as a tool. The second pillar is the design and sustainability of the business model, without which the previous factor would be merely a cost and not an investment. And last but not the least, there is the purpose which gives meaning to the proposal, focusing on the human being and their environment. The DIDPAGA business model sits at the intersection of these three elements.

Purpose: This study aims to identify communication speech acts and transaction terms in online stores (Olshop) during live streaming on Facebook amid the COVID-19 pandemic and to understand communication patterns between sellers and buyers when shopping on Facebook live streaming in Indonesia.

The Need for Research: This research is motivated by the skill gap arising from increasing buying and selling transactions through live streaming on Facebook. Cultural and demographic shifts, along with the widespread availability of modern technologies and marketing 2.0 have resulted in the global population adopting social media at rates far beyond our use of the Internet, making a compelling case by example and analogy that social media has the potential to level the playing field and is effective in reaching their target market.

Methodology: The type of research is descriptive-qualitative using corpus data instruments. The data collection technique in this study was carried out by reading and observing the data and listening to speeches about buying and selling women’s equipment from various online stores on Facebook. Then select and sort the data designated as forms, strategies, and functions of speech acts in buying and selling transactions during live streaming on Facebook. The data analysis technique has three steps: (1) reducing the amount of data; (2) presenting the data; and (3) concluding.

Findings: The results show that there are four types of speech acts between sellers and buyers in the live-streaming online shop on Facebook, namely, assertive, directive, expressive, and commissive speech acts.

Buying online has become a widespread and common activity for consumers, and, for many organizations, e-commerce has become a very profitable alternative to sell their products and services, also allowing them to leverage their strategy in new geographical markets immediately. Although the literature on the subject is comprehensive, there is a gap in identifying the holistic constructs that are the determinants of consumers' choice of an online store. This research resorts to an exploratory study, based on a nonsystematic literature review, seeking to identify these constructs. The results obtained allowed us to identify the following constructs: consumer behavior, customer experience, web content, catalog, terms and conditions, customer support, perceived value, trust, security and privacy, satisfaction, and loyalty. Customer experience, satisfaction, and loyalty constructs stand out from a strategic perspective.

This chapter is contextual in nature. It provides an overview of the impact of COVID-19, highlighting both the significant number of deaths caused by the pandemic as well as the economic disruption that occurred. Particular attention is paid to the role of digital technologies during the pandemic, which enabled a wide range of activities (e.g. work, education and shopping) to go online. The disruptive impact of COVID-19 is widespread and far-reaching, with the pandemic acting as a ‘change agent’ expanding and encouraging the greater use of digital technologies. The second half of the chapter presents summaries of the other chapters in the book. In doing so, it illustrates the scope and scale of the impact of COVID-19, the multitude of different challenges it has caused, and how these varied across different regions and contexts, as well as the diversity of reactions to the pandemic. Some of these reactions are technical in nature, while others are commercial and political. The summaries also draw attention to ongoing policy debates, the significance of which has been heightened by the pandemic.

Digitalization and marketing technologies have made it possible to overcome some barriers to pricing – a multidisciplinary field between marketing, finance and IT – and have set the stage for a paradigm shift in the pricing profession. Value creation, the pricing process, and price communication have been transformed by innovative business models and advanced algorithmic and human–machine solutions. This chapter synthesizes the literature to date and provides a comprehensive framework for an all-encompassing 360° pricing approach that broadens the understanding of pricing in the context of digital business across all steps of the price management process. Starting from product attributes and motivational beliefs in consumers' value assessment and adoption of (technological or digital) products or services, new business models and pricing models emerge in the digital economy, human–machine solutions for price implementation and repricing are increasingly applied, and price search and communication take place through a variety of digital communication channels. Each stage of this framework discusses concrete examples, highlighting the freemium strategy, the subscription model, price tracking and repricing tools, and digital price information channels such as e-commerce, marketplace, or price comparison platforms. The implications for price management in a digital, technology-driven landscape are discussed from the executive level to the analyst level.

This chapter aims to shed light on the role that a sustainable orientation plays in strengthening the relationships between global consumers and online brands. Despite many previous studies about the importance of sustainability considerations for national consumers’ brand commitments and purchase intentions, there is a lack of empirical studies focussing on this relationship from a global consumer perspective. A pre-study (consisting of focus group discussions) and a widely distributed international survey with responses from 74 countries show mixed results. Whereas the results from the focus groups imply that a sustainable orientation influences both global consumers’ purchase intentions and brand commitments towards online brands, the survey results imply that global consumers’ sustainable orientations do not affect purchase intentions directly, even though they influence brand commitments. An implication of these results is that an international online brand’s possibility to portray a sustainable orientation plays an important role in strengthening the relationship with global consumers, especially regarding brand commitment.