Factors influencing adoption of electronic commerce by exhibition stalls businesses in Nairobi central business district

Abstract

The introduction of internet based electronic commerce offers significant opportunities for large and small firms across the world to expand their customer base, downsize their operation expenses and at the same time compete in the global market. In the Kenyan context the use of internet to conduct business offers great opportunity to small and medium sized enterprises. Some of the benefits include, interacting directly with their customers, entry into new markets, reduced costs associated with traditional business methods like obtaining business licenses, permits and operational costs among others. However many small and medium sized enterprises and especially the exhibition stalls business have failed to tap into e-commerce or achieve the threshold required to realize the benefits associated with ecommerce. This research sought to investigate the factors that are influencing the adoption of electronic commerce among SMEs in Kenya with particular reference to exhibition stalls in Nairobi’s CBD. The specific objectives of the study included determining the effect of skills, cost and access to ICT, ICT infrastructure, and cyber insecurity on the adoption of electronic commerce among exhibition stall business in Nairobi`s Central Business District. The study adopted the following research methodology; First, the use of survey research design to collect data using a well developed questionnaire. The target population is exhibition stall operators or owners and managers within Nairobi`s Central Business District. In this research the researcher used purposive sampling which allows the researcher to hand pick the respondents having information relevant to the study. Using the rule of thumb the researcher selected 300 respondents. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis. The analyzed data was presented and interpreted through charts graphs and frequency tables. The research findings of the study are that there is a major relationship between cost and access to ICT, ICT infrastructure and cyber in the adoption of e-commerce. The study reports that most of the exhibition stalls have adopted e-commerce. It is also revealed that the government has not formulated proper policy or put in place effective legislation to curb cyber crime. It is recommended that business owners need to be abreast with e-commerce developments and should not resist exploring new technological innovations for global business. It is also recommended that the government should put in place effective legal infrastructure and security measures to deal with cyber insecurity which hinder the adoption of e-commerce.