A Conceptual Overview Of The Impact Of Covid-19 On E-Commerce Among Small And Medium Enterprises In South Africa

Abstract

SMEs are fundamental participants in a global landscape, especially in emerging economies like South Africa. During the Covid-19 pandemic, SMEs had to move their business online, due to lockdown regulations and fear of contracting the deadly virus. The sudden need to utilize e-commerce amongst SMEs became a major challenge, since many SMEs grappled with one or more of the four elements to complete e-commerce transactions, namely, access to reliable broadband, e-shop of products and services, digital payment, and logistics to the consumer. Thus, this conceptual paper attempts to understand the impact of the above elements of an e-commerce transaction on e-commerce growth among SMEs in South Africa. Following an in-depth literature review, eight (8) research propositions were developed pustulating relationships between the four elements of an e-commerce transaction and e-commerce growth.