With the rapid development of e-commerce, the backlog of distribution orders, insufficient logistics capacity and other issues are becoming more and more serious. It is very significant for e-commerce platforms and logistics enterprises to clarify the demand of logistics. To meet this need, a forecasting indicator system of Guangdong logistics demand was constructed from the perspective of e-commerce. The GM (1, 1) model and Back Propagation (BP) neural network model were used to simulate and forecast the logistics demand of Guangdong province from 2000 to 2019. The results show that the Guangdong logistics demand forecasting indicator system has good applicability. Compared with the GM (1, 1) model, the BP neural network model has smaller prediction error and more stable prediction results. Based on the results of the study, it is the recommendation of the authors that e-commerce platforms and logistics enterprises should pay attention to the prediction of regional logistics demand, choose scientific forecasting methods, and encourage the implementation of new distribution modes.

Many Internet users have provided a favorable atmosphere for rural e-commerce to thrive, and the return of rural inhabitants starting their own companies has had a significant impact on rural economic development. Understanding the influencing elements for returning residents to carry out rural e-commerce operations can provide suggestions for the ongoing development of the economy in rural regions and the lack of talent faced in rural areas, especially in light of the trend of people returning to their hometowns. This work offers a research model based on the push–pull–mooring (PPM) theory to explain the factors that drive returning residents to engage in rural e-commerce entrepreneurship. The empirical results determined using the PLS-SEM method and SmartPLS 3.0 software to analyze the survey data of 151 returning residents revealed that urban employment obstacles, policy support, and infrastructure are positively connected with returning residents carrying out rural e-commerce entrepreneurship. Start-up costs are negatively correlated with rural e-commerce entrepreneurship by returning residents. Policy support plays an intermediary role in the price of starting a business and in the return of rural residents starting a rural e-commerce business. We recommend that the government strengthens policy support for returning entrepreneurs, improves rural e-commerce infrastructure, assists entrepreneurs in lowering their start-up costs, and initiates activities aimed at enhancing entrepreneurial intentions and sustaining entrepreneurial activities, based on the findings of this study.

With crowd logistics becoming a crucial part of the last-mile delivery challenge in many cities, continued participation of crowd workers has become an essential issue affecting the growth of the crowd logistics platform. Understanding how people are motivated to continue their participation in crowd logistics can provide some clarity as to what policies and measures should be undertaken by the industry to support its further growth. Using the Push–Pull–Mooring (PPM) theory, we developed a research model to explain the factors influencing crowd workers’ participative behavior. Survey data from 455 crowd workers were analyzed using SmartPLS3.0 software. The results show monetary rewards and trust have a significant positive impact on the willingness of crowd workers to continue participating in crowd logistics, while work enjoyment from previous work and entry barriers for work have a significant negative impact. Trust plays an intermediary role between monetary incentives and crowd workers’ willingness to continue participating. Based on the findings of this study, we recommend that crowd logistics platforms should offer reasonable monetary incentives and keep these under constant review, build a high degree of trust and cooperation with their crowd workers, and initiate activities geared towards promoting satisfaction at work.

The emergence of e-commerce and express delivery services has significantly transformed business operations and consumer shopping experience. However, the resulting problem of packaging waste, particularly from overpackaging, poses serious challenges to environmental sustainability and human health. Existing research has proposed many solutions from various perspectives, but very few have considered the acceptability and consumer preference for these proposals. Using the value co-creation (VCC) theory, we established a research model to explore consumer preferences for e-commerce overpackaging solutions. A survey of 632 online consumers in Guangzhou and Shenzhen was conducted, and data were analyzed using the SmartPLS software. The results show that establishing a recycling system, government policy, and consumers’ environmental awareness have a significant positive impact on consumer preference, while combined packaging has a significant negative impact. We also found that government policy plays an intermediary role in establishing a recycling system and consumer preference. Based on these findings, we recommend that enterprises establish and improve their packaging recycling systems and that e-commerce platforms provide alternative options to combined packaging. Also, the government should play a guiding and coordinating role for enterprises and consumers, and environmental awareness among consumers should actively be promoted.

Rural e-commerce entrepreneurship is an effective and credible means to alleviate poverty and promote sustainable social development, particularly in the Base of the Pyramid (BoP). Understanding how to encourage BoPs’ entrepreneurial intention in the rural e-commerce market has become a key issue for private enterprises and local governments. Based on the entrepreneurial event model, we constructed a research framework to evaluate the factors influencing BoPs’ entrepreneurial intention in rural e-commerce. We conducted an online survey of rural e-commerce practitioners from Jieyang and Chaozhou in Guangdong Province, China, and empirically analyzed the survey results using SmartPLS software. The results show that professional knowledge, resource endowment, information and communication technology, and logistics infrastructure have a significant positive impact on BoP entrepreneurship in rural e-commerce, while previous market channels had a significant negative impact. Based on the findings, we recommend that BoPs should focus more on cultivating professional knowledge in e-commerce entrepreneurship and capitalize on local resource advantage. E-commerce enterprises and local governments should strengthen and improve information communication technology and logistics infrastructure among BoP communities. Policymakers should support BoP entrepreneurship in rural e-commerce by creating a favorable environment.