Barriers in Implementing E-commerce System: A Case Study of Computer Retail Outlet

Abstract

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) make up the largest proportion of business players in Malaysia. With recent development related to the Covid-19 pandemic, SMEs have turned to e-commerce to sell their products and to make their business sustainable. This paper presents a study that explores the barriers associated with e-commerce implementation from SMEs' viewpoint. The study utilises semi-structured interviews to gather data from SMEs' respondents. The interview data were collected and analysed using Gioia method and thematic analysis. Based on the analysis, five main barriers have been identified i.e., poor e-commerce adoption, lack of knowledge, less values of learning, reliability problem, and convenience concern. The results provided an important insight into the barriers that need to be addressed in implementing e-commerce in SMEs setting.