The rapid growth of e-commerce in South Africa has increased the demand for efficient last-mile delivery. Motorcycle delivery drivers play a crucial role in the last-mile delivery process to bridge the gap between retailers and consumers. However, these drivers face significant challenges that impact both logistical efficiency and their socio-economic well-being. This study critically analyzes media narratives on the safety and working conditions of motorcycle delivery drivers in the e-commerce sector in South Africa. The thematic analysis of newspaper articles identified recurring themes. This study reveals critical safety and labor vulnerabilities affecting motorcycle delivery drivers in South Africa’s e-commerce sector. Key findings include heightened risks of violence, hijackings, and road accidents, exacerbated by inadequate infrastructure and safety gear. Coupled with low wages, job insecurity, and limited benefits, these conditions expose drivers to significant precarity. Policy interventions are urgently needed for driver safety and sustainable logistics. By integrating insights from multiple disciplines, this study offers a comprehensive understanding of the complex challenges within this rapidly growing sector.

This study conducts research on retailers’ behavioral intentions and behavior in adopting e-commerce platforms (ECPs) and uses the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) model as well as add other factors such as Personalization Platform, Seamless Interaction. The findings show that Effort Expectancy, Social Influence, Hedonic Motivation, Retailers’ Capacity, Integration Strategies have a positive impact on retailers’ behavioral intention of adopting ECPs and Performance Expectancy has a negative impact on retailers’ behavioral intention of adopting ECPs. At the same time, Behavioral Intention, Facilitating Conditions have a positive impact on retailers’ behavior adopting ECPs and Seamless Interaction has a negative impact on retailers’ behavior adopting ECPs. With important implications, these findings are proposed to relevant parties, helping retailers and ECPs suppliers identify factors affecting retailers’ behavioral intention and behavior in adopting ECPs in Vietnam.

E-commerce plays an important role in many organizations and businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Although the body of scientific knowledge carries significant research in addressing the main drivers and challenges of e-commerce among SMEs, the Saudi market was untouched, especially after the official Saudi government classification of SMEs back in December of 2016. Therefore, this study aims to explore the most common factors and challenges of SMEs when utilizing e-commerce in Saudi Arabia. It focused on Jeddah City as the second-largest city and the main seaport of the country. This research is based on a quantitative survey carried out among 63 firms, due to the difficulty in reaching a larger number of participants who had dedicated time and budget. The examined factors were collected from the literature and classified using the Technology, Organization, and Environment Model (TOE). Out of 63 firms, only six were adopting e-commerce. This led us to focus more on the challenges that hindered the remaining 57 from utilizing e-commerce. The analysis results uncovered the status of e-commerce among a sample of Saudi SMEs and showed that the knowledge and awareness level of e-commerce potential for businesses play a significant factor in reaching this incredibly low number.

In this research, we employed multivariate statistical methods to investigate the perspectives of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) concerning the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulation and their apprehensions related to EPR compliance. The EPR regulation, which places the responsibility of waste management on producers, has significant financial and administrative implications, particularly for SMEs. A sample of 114 businesses was randomly selected, and the collected data underwent comprehensive analysis. Our findings highlight that a notable proportion of businesses (44.7%) possess knowledge of the EPR regulation’s provisions, whereas only a marginal fraction (1.8%) lacks sufficient familiarity. We also explored the interplay between opinions on the EPR regulation and concerns regarding its financial and administrative implications. Our results establish a significant correlation between EPR regulation opinions and concerns, with adverse opinions prominently influencing concerns, particularly regarding financial burdens and administrative workloads. These outcomes, derived from the application of multivariate statistical techniques, provide valuable insights for enhancing the synergy between environmental regulations and business practices. EPR regulation significantly affects SMEs in terms of financial, administrative, and legal obligations, thus our study highlights that policymakers may need to consider additional support mechanisms to alleviate the regulatory burden on SMEs, fostering a more effective and sustainable implementation of the EPR regulation.

Through the research on the communication mode of rural youth e-commerce, the paper puts forward that there are some advantages and many problems in the e-commerce engaged in.