To What Extent Would E-mall Enable SMEs to Adopt E-Commerce?

TL;DR

This study investigates how e-malls could facilitate e-commerce adoption among Saudi Arabian SMEs, highlighting organizational, technological, and environmental influences while dismissing traditional and cultural factors.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence on the impact of e-malls on SME e-commerce adoption in Saudi Arabia, emphasizing organizational and environmental factors.

Findings

Organizational, technological, and environmental factors significantly influence e-mall adoption.

Traditional and cultural factors do not significantly affect e-mall adoption.

Only 8% of Saudi businesses sell online as of 2010.

Abstract

This paper presents findings from a study of e-commerce adoption by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia. Only tiny number of Saudi commercial organizations, mostly medium and large companies from the manufacturing sector, in involved in e-commerce implementation. The latest report released in 2010 by The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) in Saudi Arabia shows that only 8% of businesses sell online. Accordingly new research has been conducted to explore to what extent electronic mall (e-mall) would enable SMEs in Saudi Arabia to adopt and use online channels for their sales. A quantitative analysis of responses obtained from a survey of 108 SMEs in Saudi Arabia was conducted. The main results of the current analysis demonstrate the significant of organizational factors, and technology and environmental factors. Interestingly, traditional & cultural factors have no significance in this regard.