Editorial: Electronic Commerce in the Time of Covid-19 - Perspectives and Challenges

The Covid-19 epidemic has strongly affected the lives and economies of the countries all over the world, generating numerous challenges for private, public, and business entities. Massive quarantines have been implemented globally that stopped most of the interactions between people, which is popularly referred to as social distancing. However, social distancing implies the minimization of physical contact among humans. At the same time, people stayed virtually connected due to the abundance of various electronic commerce solutions. The Covid-19 epidemic has rapidly forced numerous entities (public, business, and private) to become predominantly oriented to electronic commerce in the last few months. It is not too exaggerated to say that electronic commerce has enabled the survival of numerous businesses all over the world, and has supported various personal needs, as well as public functions. Suddenly, new perspectives and challenges emerge due to the usage of electronic commerce processes and practices in the time of the Covid-19 crises.