Activity characteristics and perspective development directions of electronic trade platforms in Azerbaijan

Improving e-commerce platforms and determining their prospective development trends is a global problem. This article indicates the relevance of expanding online transactions with the application of industry 4.0 platform technologies in business activities. The sharp increase in demand for e-commerce due to the pandemic has made it one of the key trends of the modern era. Modern electronic commercial systems and technologies are required to be applied in the organization of business activities. The work shows the significance of forming the necessary infrastructure for e-commerce in the country and solving the problem of integration into the global digital ecosystems. The characteristics of electronic commerce technologies in ensuring economic development are determined. The stages of its life cycle are displayed based on the results of the analysis of many research works related to electronic commerce. Aspects of the impact of the application of modern electronic commerce technologies and tools on economic development in commercial activities are explored. The article also highlights the main procedures of online purchase process in the main electronic trading systems on the Internet. It classifies the electronic commerce system according to various characteristics, and studies the aspects of its implementation in Azerbaijan. It proposes the methodology of comparative evaluation of the development rate of electronic commerce technologies and develops systems and relevant indices. In the end, the results of the final scores on the weighting coefficients of the indicators characterizing B2B electronic commerce are introduced. With the application of the latest information and communication technologies, recommendations are proposed on the operational characteristics and prospective development trends of e-commerce platforms in the Azerbaijani segment of the Internet.