The implementation of e-commerce application in Bumiputera Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia

Abstract

The proliferation of e-commerce in modern business today is primarily contributed by the global acceptance of Internet and WWW as a commercialization medium. E-commerce generally refers to business communication and transactions over the internet and, selling and buying products or services online. Studies shown that e-commerce not only significant to small businesses and individual consumers; but also reshapes both local and international market. Furthermore, e-commerce provides a mechanism that facilitates businesses to increase productivity, competitiveness, profitability and information management capabilities. This study aims to explore the level of e-commerce usage in Malaysian Bumiputera (indigenous) enterprises. The relationship between e-commerce usage and company's characteristics as well as e-commerce benefits respectively are also studied. A structured interview with 5-point Likert scale questionnaire items was conducted on 423 respondents of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) nationwide. Data collected had been analyzed using descriptive and inferential methods such as percentage, mean, Chi-Square test, and Spearman Correlation Coefficient test. Results revealed that the level of e-commerce application Malaysia Bumiputera SMEs is only at publish level. This signifies that Malaysia SMEs are still far away in achieving the level four (transaction) and level five (integration). Most SMEs are applying only the basic application of e-commerce though they have websites being incorporated into their businesses.