The effect of e-commerce on the performance of SMEs. Case study of Acacia mall Kampala

Abstract

The study examined the effect of electronic commerce on the performance of Small and medium enterprises with specific reference to Acacia Mall. It was guided by three research objectives which were; the effect of electronic data interchange, electronic marketing electronic payment on performance of Small and Medium Enterprises The study used a case study design with both qualitative and quantitative results. Data was collected using questionnaires and interviews. The target population comprised of 100 Small and medium enterprises at Acacia Mall dealing in trading and service. Purposive was used to SMEs dealing in trading and service because it focuses on particular characteristics of a population that are of interest, consumes less time. The most knowledgeable and appropriate participants for the study are selected and give accurate responses. Simple random sampling technique was used to select study participants because there is an equal chance (probability) of selecting each staff from the population being studied. The researcher used structured questionnaires, data was analyzed using SPSS Version 20, frequency tables, descriptive tables showing the means, and graphs were used to present data from SPSS In data analysis frequencies, percentages and mean, correlations and regressions to show the magnitude of effect the independent variables have on the dependent variable. Study findings revealed that there is a significant statistical strong positive relationship between electronic data interchange and performance of small and medium enterprises (r=.643**; p<0.01). Findings also revealed that there is a significant moderate weak positive relationship between electronic marketing and performance of small and medium enterprises (r=.471**; p<0.01). It was found out that there is a significant moderate statistical positive relationship between electronic payment and performance of small and medium enterprises (r=.617**; p<0.01). It can therefore be concluded that there is a positive significant relationship between electronic data interchange and performance of small and medium enterprises based on the findings of the study is presented according to the objectives of the study with back up of reviewed literature to xii make the discussion more authentic. It was therefore recommended that Acacia Mall in line with the electronic data interchange should improve electronic data interchange so as to reduce the lead-time from placing the order to receiving the goods for service provision and reduce errors associated with manual documents and data entry this will increase the performance of Small and medium enterprises.