E-Commerce Usage by the SMEs in Northern Malaysia

The is a study to assess the state of e-commerce adoption by the SMEs in Northern Malaysia and to examine the factors that might hinder the adoption. Quantitative Analysis of the data obtained found that the general usage of e-commerce among the SMEs in Northern Malaysia was low; most firms seemed to have implemented only basic e-commerce applications. Analysis of benefits realized found that most of the SMEs only gained some of the benefits of e-commerce. Benefits realized were in the areas of customer service, market expansion, and back-end efficiency and inventory management. SMEs who have adopted e-commerce seemed incapable of improving their overall performance and profitability. Examination of the factors that might hinder the adoption of e-commerce by the SMEs in Northern Malaysia was factors related to organizational, governmental and environmental barriers. Out of the three factors, only the factor associated with environmental barriers has a significant correlation with the extent of e-commerce adoption. Regression analysis confirmed that the factor related to environmental barriers has significant negative influence on the extent of e-commerce adoption.