E-commerce trading activity and the SME sector: an FSB perspective

Abstract

Purpose – This study aims to examine e-commerce within UK small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). More specifically, it seeks to explore associations between e-commerce and internal and external antecedents including trading behaviour, owner/manager characteristics, innovation, public sector involvement, business advice and finance sources. Design/methodology/approach – An 8,500+ sample derived from the 2008 UK Federation of Small Businesses survey was utilised. An OLS regression equation was generated where the percentage of sales made using e-commerce constituted the dependent variable. Independent variables were constructed for several sets of factors including innovation, business advice and sources of finance, as well as a range of owner and SME typology variables. Findings – The results suggest that e-commerce is more strongly apparent in SMEs started from scratch and where they were involved in basic or high knowledge services or the tourist trade. SMEs undertaking e-commerce were also associated with innovation in the form of copyright, as well as public procurement with local authorities and the university sector. Specific business advice in the form of capacity, family and suppliers was also associated with e-commerce trading. Research limitations/implications – These results have implications for SMEs and public sector stakeholders. SMEs must recognise the importance of several potential antecedents such as intellectual property rights, specific business advice and finance to encourage e-commerce. Moreover, it was apparent that certain SME characteristics, namely locality and trading behaviour, were associated with effective e-commerce. Originality/value – This study will be of value to academia, SMEs and key public sector stakeholders in the formulation of policy for ICT development.

An empirical investigation of business‐to‐business e‐commerce adoption and its impact on SMEs competitive advantage: The case of Egyptian manufacturing SMEs

“…Several studies investigated the e-commerce adoption (Pickernell et al, 2013). There is a belief that the adoption of e-commerce makes a contribution to the development of SME businesses in developing countries (Ghobakhloo et al, 2011).…”

An Examination of Regional Policy Implications Pertaining to SME E‐Business Adoption in South‐East Wales

“…By undertaking research in a number of regions, including Northern Ireland and SEW, it will be possible to make further regional comparisons to those that have already been made in the present study. It is anticipated by some researchers that even in a situation where there is falling economic growth, e‐business may still be relatively resilient on the basis that during a recession people will not stop spending but will spend more carefully (Pickernell et al ., ; Ramcharran, ).…”

Antecedents of B2B E‐Commerce Adoption and its Effect on Competitive Advantage in Manufacturing SMEs

“…However, they lacked the focus of identifying the factors that influenced each level of B2B e‐commerce adoption and did not identify the competitive advantage achieved by adopting each level that could guide both policy makers and owner/managers of the SMEs in their investment decisions. This study aims to fill this gap in the literature and meets the call for further research in this area (Pickernell et al ., ).…”