Adoption and use of E-commerce in the mainstream retail grocery sector in the Western Cape, South Africa

Abstract

In the last two decades, the concept of e-commerce has been embraced and widely adopted by many enterprises across the world. Many enterprises continue to reap the benefits of ecommerce across industries and sectors. Despite the benefits, which have been widely reported, South African retail enterprises have only adopted the concept sporadically. The lack of, or slow pace of, adoption and participation in the e-commerce space by South African retail enterprises is a problem for both the enterprises themselves and individuals (consumers): retail enterprises are challenged with competitiveness at global space, and individuals are constrained and limited in their attempts to partake in transactions with retailers. This research was therefore undertaken to examine and understand the factors, from both technical and non-technical perspectives, that influence the adoption and use of e-commerce within the South African environment. Two organisations were used as cases in the study. In that human opinions and views were required, the qualitative methods and the interpretive approach were employed in the research. Actor Network Theory (ANT) was applied in the analysis of the qualitative data. Based on the findings and interpretation of the findings, a framework was developed. The framework is intended to guide how e-commerce can be adopted and used in the mainstream retail grocery sector in South Africa. The research can be of use and benefit to both business and in the academic domain, from either a practical, methodological and theoretical perspective. Practically, small and large retail enterprises in South African or other African countries with similar business cultures and settings can come to a better understanding of the e-commerce influencing factors. Methodologically, the use of ANT was vital, in the way it was used to examine the various networks, actors, relationship and interaction that happens in the process of adopting and or use of e-commerce. Theoretically, this study contributes to existing literature. Also, the study can be used as case study material in the field of information systems by institutions of higher learning.