Technology illiteracy in retail SMES: Exploring late adopters characteristics

Abstract

In the first decade of the XXI Century, Technology Use in all type of business is taken for granted. This is not necessary true in some developing countries where small retail businesses (SME) are the source of employment for more than one third of their population. For some of this business, technology adoption is not only a matter of financial resources availability, but a matter of competencies as well. As the competitive environment in retail industry turns more aggressive and integrative practices of Supply Chain Management are growing, there is an important segment of SMEs that have not absorbed yet a fundamental change: they are still illiterate in terms of technology use. In spite of the vulnerability present on the air for this firms, and the fact that they are high distribution cost consumers for some highly technology based suppliers, customers are still walking into this type of stores. In order to gain understanding of the technology late adopters characteristics a research project was conducted with around 200 participant firms in a border state of Mexico with the USA. Results reveals a wide spectrum of technology illiteracy in the retail segment that includes Pop & Mom stores, independent pharmacies, flower shops, wine shops, hardware stores, beauty parlors and apparel stores. An interesting issue emerges from the results in a form of a contradiction, because in this technology illiteracy context the Micro Store owners have a positive attitude as in the theoretical concepts of Technology perceived Usefulness and Technology Ease of Use. An additional phenomenon is identified in this business context, in which technology is not considered an attraction factor to develop customer's preference for micro and small independent stores.