Assessment of the Impact of E-Commerce on the
Development Prospects of the Digital Economy in Azerbaijan
Nahid Babayev
Abstract. The article assesses the impact of e-commerce on the development prospects of the digital economy in Azerbaijan from theoretical and empirical perspectives. The central research problem is that although internet access, mobile applications and digital payment instruments have expanded, the share of e-commerce in retail turnover remains limited. The study explains the essence of the digital economy, the functions of e-commerce and the mechanisms linking these two areas on the basis of academic literature. The empirical part relies on a survey of 232 respondents conducted by the author and on a multiple regression model estimated in SPSS. The results show that satisfaction with online shopping is mainly shaped by delivery reliability, protection of buyer rights and security of personal data. The model’s R² value of 0.760 indicates that the selected variables explain the assessment of product conformity at a high level. The article argues that e-commerce affects the expansion of the digital economy not only as a sales channel, but also through payment infrastructure, logistics, platform-based business models and digital literacy. The proposed recommendations cover strengthening trust mechanisms, improving regional logistics, increasing the technical reliability of local platforms and supporting small businesses in their transition to online sales.
Keywords: e-commerce, digital economy, online shopping, digital payments, regression analysis