E-commerce adoption among small and micro enterprises in Nairobi

Abstract

Driven by the steady growth of internet users around the world, e-commerce has become a competitive strategy for most businesses. A study was conducted to determine the adoption of ecommerce among small and micro enterprises in Nairobi. The Specific Objectives of the study were: To establish the extent to which SMEs in Nairobi CBD is using E-commerce, to establish the benefits of e-commerce adoption by the SMEs, to determine the challenges affecting adoption of e-commerce by SMEs in Nairobi CBD and to establish the determinants of ecommerce among SMEs in Nairobi CBD. The study adopted a descriptive research design where a sample of 60 respondents who were selected through stratified sampling. Primary data was collected from managers or owners of the SMEs by use of questionnaires. The data was analyzed and presented in tables and charts. A regression analysis was also done to establish the relationship between the determinants and the adoption of e-commerce. The findings indicated that e-commerce has been adopted by a good number of SMEs. It was also establish that the use of e-commerce has its benefits as well as its challenges. From the findings the key benefits were the increased sales, reduced transaction cost and speeding up processes. While the key challenges being the slow internet speed, security and customer’s preference to transact businesses offline. It was established that there is a significant relationship between the determinants of e-commerce and the adoption of e-commerce. The study recommends that managers should undertake some training courses on e-commerce especially on website to enable them know how to effectively utilize all the resources to ensure the business has a competitive advantage. The study also recommends that the web developers to take concern when implementing the websites to capture other moderating factors like the age, level of education, and gender.