Abstract
It has been commonly reported that e-commerce (electronic commerce) offers viable solutions to businesses in meeting the challenges of an environment that is undergoing changes. This study seeks to explore the factors that influence the adoption decision of Business-to-Consumer (B2C) e-commerce, using Sudan as a case study. The mixed method design was adopted in two stages in which both exploratory and descriptive research approaches were undertaken. Data was collected from enterprises by questionnaire and through the analysis of research and semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that most enterprises in the country are still in the initial stages of adoption of B2C e-commerce despite the wide growth of Internet use among enterprises in Sudan. Many factors could be responsible for the low usage of e-commerce among the enterprises in Sudan. Technical barrier is seen as the major barrier that affects the adoption of B2C e-commerce. However, this is accompanied by regulatory and legal barriers. One of the factors that inhibit e-commerce adoption in SMEs in Sudan is the lack of Internet security. Other factors include limited use of web portals and Internet banking by enterprises. The use of credit card and visa card is prohibited in Sudan due to the sanction from the United States of America. However, these issues resulted in all type of transactions that involves carrying cash. This makes it risky for customer who carry huge sum of money. In order to improve B2C e-commerce adoption technologies, this study plays a significant role to organizations and supporting organizations, especially those operating in countries with a unique situation like Sudan.
Highlights
Business-to-consumer usually has a major focus on business transactions that takes place between businesses and consumers (Duncombe & Heeks, 2001)
The factors that affect e-commerce adoption of an organization in developing countries play a significant role to the organization, the public, as well as the government
The study looked at barriers affecting the adoption of B2C e-commerce by organizations in Sudan
Summary
Business-to-consumer usually has a major focus on business transactions that takes place between businesses and consumers (Duncombe & Heeks, 2001). Despite the benefits and rapid growth of e-commerce, it has been indicated that only large organizations have obtained the benefits of e-commerce (MacGregor & Kartiwi, 2010; MacGregor & Vrazalic, 2005; Riquelme, 2002); though SMEs being at a low level relatively This situation is common in many developing countries (Kapurubandara & Lawson, 2006). The objectives of this study include: to explore the major barriers that affects Business-to-Consumer (B2C) adoption; to perform an in-depth investigation on factors that affects B2C adoption in Sudan; to develop the framework for adoption of B2C e-commerce in Sudan; to make specific recommendations in eliminating the problems affecting B2C adoption in Sudan; and to validate the framework. Research Questions What are the factors that affect the B2C e-commerce adoption by SMEs in Sudan?
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