SME adoption of e-Commerce in the Central Okanagan region of Canada

Abstract

The adoption of e-commerce by small-medium enterprises (SME) in Canada remains low. The Central Okanagan region of British Columbia is typical in terms of the relative density of SMEs’ e-commerce activity. In this study, a survey of SMEs’ adoption of e-commerce was conducted to determine reasons for this low adoption. Constructs used in the survey focussed on three contexts: organizational, external environmental and innovation. The study found significant factors that differentiated adopters and non-adopters of e-commerce included technological opportunism and readiness, owner experience with computers, support within the organization, relative advantage and compatibility. Limitations of the study’s sample size preclude generalization to all Canadian SMEs, but the trends suggest that further research should be a priority for government, industry and research academics.