From Ports to Platform Sales: Maritime Connectivity and E-Sales Adoption in Europe

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.28924/2291-8639-23-2025-338
Published: Dec 12, 2025
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Ong-art Chanprasitchai, Warawut Narkbunnum, From Ports to Platform Sales: Maritime Connectivity and E-Sales Adoption in Europe, Int. J. Anal. Appl., 23 (2025), 338.

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Ong-art Chanprasitchai, Warawut Narkbunnum

Abstract

Digital commerce is growing across Europe, but adoption remains uneven. This study tests whether national maritime connectivity complements firms’ online sales. Using secondary data for 21 European economies from 2014 to 2024, we merge Eurostat’s e-sales share of turnover with the UNCTAD’s Liner Shipping Connectivity Index, annualized from quarterly releases using within-year medians. We estimate two-way fixed-effects models with Driscoll–Kraay standard errors and run a robustness suite (leave-one-country-out, sliding windows, quadratic terms, dynamic lead/lag checks, Huber robust regression). Results show a positive but modest association: the baseline coefficient (~0.018) implies that a 100-point increase in LSCI corresponds to a 1.8 percentage-point higher e-sales share. Estimates are directionally stable across probes; curvature is indistinguishable from zero, and dynamics show no strong pre-trends. We conclude that maritime connectivity incrementally enables digital commercialization. Coordinated investments in ports and corridors, combined with SME digitalization and cross-border facilitation, are likely to be more effective than siloed interventions.

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