THE PANDEMIC WAVES’ IMPACT ON ROMANIAN E-MARKET: A NON-LINEAR REGRESSION MODEL

Abstract

The SARS-COV2 pandemic had a strong impact on the Romanian and European e-Market, manifested by the explosive increase in online sales, especially at the beginning of the two waves of epidemic, in spring and autumn. Using a statistical regressive analysis of monthly change in the volume of online sales in Romania, we propose a non-linear regression model of growth of this commercial sector that take into account the economic and socials effects of the three pandemic waves in 2020-2021, combining logistic equations of growth with attenuated quasi-periodical variations of market. The model allows a prediction of the overall behavior of online buyers for 2021 and 2022, similar to last year, but with annual growth peaks slightly less pronounced than in 2020.