E-Commerce: Adoption Barriers in Small and Medium- Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in India

Iftaqar Ahmad, Research Scholar; Jyotsna Sinha, Assistant Professor

Iftaqar Ahmad, Research Scholar Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, MNNIT Allahabad
Jyotsna Sinha, Assistant Professor Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, MNNIT Allahabad

Keywords: E-Commerce, Adoption Barriers, Small and Medium- SizedEnterprises

Abstract

India is considered as the youth capital of the world. Globalization and the KnowledgeEconomy pose
numerous challenges as well as opportunities for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in India. Indian
labour force numbers around 500 million. Over 90% of them work inunincorporated, unorganized
enterprises gaining traditional knowledge on the job.With the opening up of the economy and increase
inexports, improving the productivity of the workforceis a key challenge. Therefore there is an urgency to
adopt e-Commerce and become internet savvy so that production and selling goes simultaneously. In today's
era when environment is changing with the blink of an eye one must work on the theme “SURVIVAL OF THE
FITTEST”.SMEs need to get connected with online shoppers or else adopt E-commerce in order to have
competitive advantage over others. This research paper has been written in an article form in order to
discuss the important key issues related to adoption and opportunities that eCommerce offers for SMEs in
India.