Abstract
The e-commerce sector is one of the emerging and promising sectors. At the same time in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, this sector is experiencing a significant growth spurt that makes it one of the sectors supporting the national economy by attracting more investments. In turn, it contributes to supporting GDP, as well as its role in creating more job opportunities for young people through expanding entrepreneurship and innovation. E-commerce contributes to creating new employment opportunities; Either by making it possible to establish small and medium-sized commercial projects for individuals and linking them to global markets at the lowest investment costs by creating a means of direct communication between the consumer and the product, or by providing them with job opportunities in many different fields related to e-commerce applications; Such as e-commerce website specialists, store workers, administrators, and technicians. Despite this, the success of the sector in fulfilling its targeted role according to the Kingdom's Vision 2030 remains subject to consumer awareness, their confidence in e-commerce, the logistics services, and payments system. Besides, the communication infrastructure through the expansion of the number of POS devices at various payment outlets, they have indeed witnessed significant growth. It recorded nearly 62% during 2018 compared to the situation in 2017. However, the number of these devices is still needed to expand. The expanded role of this sector also requires taking into account work on organizing many activities to educate citizens about the importance of this sector to the various global e-commerce sites and how to use them, taking into account the language so that there are no obstacles between the users of these sites. It should also work to consider the cost of shipping expenses so that everyone can spend their requirements through e-commerce sites. The Internet and the latest technological advancements resulted in the emergence of e-commerce. E-commerce is changing the business environment across the globe. However, the motivating factor for this research has been the lack of research linking the development of e-commerce and its impact on the start-up ecosystem that is specific to Saudi Arabia. There is a general agreement amongst the scholars and experts that the start-up ecosystem plays a critical role in the country's economic system and e-commerce has become an integral part of that economic growth story of nations including Saudi Arabia. Therefore, the primary aim of this research was to examine the impact of e-commerce on the start-up ecosystem in Saudi Arabia. The authors analyzed the scientific journals and articles on the selected theme. The theoretical findings were put to the test using qualitative interviews that lasted between 30-45 minutes with eight highly skilled and experienced professionals in the field of e-commerce, start-up ecosystem, and management areas. Based on literature research and qualitative interviews, the key findings of this research are: (1) e-commerce and start-up ecosystem are amongst the key drivers of Saudi Arabia’s economy, (2) e-commerce have a significant positive impact on start-up ecosystem of Saudi Arabia, and (3) e-commerce has facilitated the start-up ecosystem to become inclusive through the rise of women entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia. Keywords: e-commerce, start-up ecosystem, women entrepreneurship, internet technologies.
Highlights
As rightly suggested by Al‐Shohaib, Al‐Kandari, and Abdulrahim (2009), Internet technology has changed the dimension of doing business
P4 explained that e-commerce has evolved in a big way, and Saudi Arabia is no different from any other country when it came to embracing e-commerce
P8 was of the view that Saudi Arabia is considered to be lagging in implementing latest technologies and the reason is primarily being lack of research that is specific to Saudi Arabia as it is culturally different from Western countries
Summary
As rightly suggested by Al‐Shohaib, Al‐Kandari, and Abdulrahim (2009), Internet technology has changed the dimension of doing business. E-commerce has emerged from being a technological issue to a business issue in the 21st century Another such key driver of economic system is the «start-ups», and Alkhunaizan and Love (2013) suggested that a healthy start-up entrepreneurial environment spurs jobs creation, wealth creation, GDP growth, and improves the standard of living. E-commerce has made a big difference for women in Saudi Arabia who are pioneering the online fashion sector (Assaf, 2017). This situation, along with the median age of Saudi Arabia being just 30 years makes this research highly relevant and essential to gain insight into the effects of the development of e-commerce on start-up ecosystem in Saudi Arabia
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.