Supplier Evaluation—Set of Criteria for E-commerce

In a dynamic e-commerce environment, supplier selection and evaluation are critical to maintaining competitive advantage and operational efficiency. The first part of the chapter presents a literature analysis of supplier evaluation methodologies. Then, the main part of the chapter presents an innovative set of criteria, tailored to the evaluation of e-commerce suppliers, addressing the unique challenges of e-commerce. The supplier evaluation model distinguishes a set of 27 criteria, including elements related to delivery quality, content delivered, and business conditions, to offer a holistic evaluation framework. In addition to the 27 criteria, other additional criteria, which are more difficult to evaluate numerically, have been proposed, taking into account elements such as sustainability and environmental impact, cybersecurity and data protection, or social responsibility and others. The criteria have been carefully selected to include both traditional and e-commerce-specific factors, providing a robust tool for online retailers to optimise supplier relationships and improve overall performance.