Infrastructure A Major Barrier to Ecommerce Development and Adoption

Abstract

Ecommerce (e-commerce) or electronic commerce is the purchasing, selling, and exchanging of goods and services over computer networks (such as the Internet) through which transactions or terms of sale are performed electronically. Ecommerce can be placed in several categories based on the parties involved in the transaction such as business to business or consumer to business. Use of technology enables buyers to purchase or sellers to access business market globally by use of internet though areas with no ICT infrastructure are faced with a lot of challenges ranging from lack of equipment, power connection and access to internet. Lack of ICT knowledge and skill, policies and laws to security concern are factors contributing to barriers to ecommerce development and adoption. The study in this research concentrated on lack of ICT infrastructure that denies most people universal access to internet that promotes use of ecommerce. The objective of the study was to; establish how lack of infrastructure affects adoption of ecommerce in rural areas  and  how lack of universal access to internet affects both buyer and seller. The study adopted a mixed methods paradigm with both quantitative and qualitative approaches (triangulation). Within the quantitative approach, the descriptive survey design was used, while within the qualitative approach, the exploratory   design was used.  Questionnaires and in-depth interviews were used for data collection. Quantitative data has been analyzed using basic descriptive statistics and inferential statistics such as independent - sample test and Analysis of Variance. Qualitative data from interviews has been analyzed by using the thematic analysis. The study finding will be useful to customer to business(C2B),business to customer (B2C) and business to business(B2B) in variety of business activities. Significance of the study is that it highlights on; why many people engaged in various business activities have not embraced use of ecommerce  due to lack of  ICT infrastructure.