An empirical study of e commerce by MSMEs in Bengaluru India

Abstract

Thanks to 4G Telecom and Digital India, internet is accessible in most parts of India newlinetoday. Reports on the growing impact of e-commerce in the MSME sector in India is newlinemostly anecdotal and a lot of speculation. Pessimists feel e-commerce is not going to grow newlinein India unlike the west due to the challenges of network, convergence, cost of devices, newline. ICT experts equally assert that it is going to usher a newlinerevolution in business and consumer behavior as people are likely to resort to the newlineconvenience of e-commerce. newlineWhile exploratory research on adoption of e-commerce in MSME is available in some of newlinethe developed and a few developing countries, there is very little conclusive research on newlinethe rate of adoption, models of adoption and the effect of adoption to MSME in India. In newlinean emerging economy like India where MSME contribute significantly to employment, newlineexports and the GDP it is important to identify the crucial success factors for e-commerce newlineby MSME. newlineThe broad objectives of this research are to examine the nature and levels of adoption of ecommerce by the MSME in Bengaluru, one of the epicenters of digital economy in India; newlineto identify the crucial factors for success and develop a model that shows their effects on newlinethe business performance of MSME. A research design based on a combination of newlineexploratory and conclusive research was conducted in three phases covering e-commerce newlineexperts, frequent consumers using e-commerce as well as MSME who adopted ecommerce in Bengaluru. The research enabled analysis of data empirically to arrive at newlinefindings and conclusive evidence that explains the levels of adoption of e-commerce in newlineMSME, the reasons for it, the factors that are crucial and their impact on the performance. newlineTechnology and customer are the major factors while environment and organization are newlinethe minor factors all of which together contribute to e-commerce and the performance of newlineMSME in India. Crucial technology factors identified are context; content; customization newlineand communication. Crucial factors for customer satisfaction are functionality; trust; newlinereliability and reputation. Based on the conclusive evidence a model strategy framework newlineof crucial factors can be developed, particularly for MSME in India. newline