E-Commerce Challenges of SMMEs In South Africa During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

During the Covid-19 pandemic, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have had to shift business operations to online, due to the lockdown protocols and government restrictions. The sudden need by SMEs to change the operations model to e-commerce, became a major challenge. Many SMEs were challenged by one or more of the four e-commerce resources to complete an e-commerce transaction, namely usage of reliable broadband, e-shop of products and services, digital payment, and logistics to the consumer. Thus, this study investigated the challenges experienced by SMEs when using e-commerce platforms during the Covid-19 pandemic. Through an extensive literature review, several hypotheses were postulated and data was collected from SME owners in Gauteng Province, South Africa to test them. Simple random sampling was used to identify participants for the survey and the questionnaires which were adaptation of previously developed ones were distributed via email to 307 retail SMEs in Edenvale, Gauteng. Inferential statistical analysis, through structural equation modelling, was used to analyse the data that was collected through the survey. The findings revealed that digital payments and logistics were significant predictors of e-commerce growth during the pandemic and dynamic skill capabilities moderated the relationship between digital payments and e-commerce growth. However, the usage of broadband and e-shop features were not significant in predicting the growth of e-commerce.