IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bcp/journl/v9y2025issue-3p1499-1512.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Factors Influencing E-commerce Adoption by SMEs in Sudan – Qualitative Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Asma Elamin Abdalla

    (School Of Business & Economics, UPM University Malaysia)

  • Noor Azlin Binti Ismail

    (School Of Business & Economics, UPM University Malaysia)

  • Rosmah Mohamed

    (School Of Business & Economics, UPM University Malaysia)

Abstract

E-commerce’s impact on small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) has received significant attention in research. Much research on e-commerce adoption among SMEs in developing countries has been conducted. However, few studies exist to explain the success of SMEs in Sudan in adopting e-commerce systems. The paper investigates the factors which influence e-commerce adoption by SMEs in Sudan. The study used semi-structured telephone interviews as a qualitative research approach to achieve its goal. The primary qualitative data were collected to explore the factors influencing e-commerce adoption in Sudanese SMEs, and analyzed using ‘Deductive Content Analysis’. Utilizing the TOE theory, this study highlighted many main factors that affect SME enterprises during e-commerce implementation. The study identified three significant challenges: technological, organizational, and environmental. The qualitative data analysis revealed a significant relationship between each of the six variables (compatibility, IT knowledge, Management Support, Perceived Cost, Competitive Pressure, and Government Support) and electronic commerce usage among small and medium-sized companies in Sudan.

Suggested Citation

  • Asma Elamin Abdalla & Noor Azlin Binti Ismail & Rosmah Mohamed, 2025. "Factors Influencing E-commerce Adoption by SMEs in Sudan – Qualitative Analysis," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(3), pages 1499-1512, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bcp:journl:v:9:y:2025:issue-3:p:1499-1512
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/Digital-Library/volume-9-issue-3/1499-1512.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/articles/factors-influencing-e-commerce-adoption-by-smes-in-sudan-qualitative-analysis/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Abdelaziz Musbah & Mira Kartiwi, 2017. "Factors Hindering the Adoption of Business-to-Consumer (B2C) in Developing Countries: A Case Study of Sudan," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 9(4), pages 28-33.
    2. Alexandre Moeuf & Robert Pellerin & Samir Lamouri & Simon Tamayo-Giraldo & Rodolphe Barbaray, 2018. "The industrial management of SMEs in the era of Industry 4.0," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(3), pages 1118-1136, February.
    3. Rita Rahayu & John Day, 2017. "E-commerce adoption by SMEs in developing countries: evidence from Indonesia," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 7(1), pages 25-41, April.
    4. Agus David Ramdansyah & H.E.R. Taufik, 2017. "Adoption Model of E-Commerce from SMEs Perspective in Developing Country Evidence – Case Study for Indonesia," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4B), pages 227-243.
    5. Sayef Bakari, 2017. "Appraisal of Trade Potency on Economic Growth in Sudan: New Empirical and Policy Analysis," Asian Development Policy Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 5(4), pages 213-225.
    6. Alexandre Moeuf & Samir Lamouri & Robert Pellerin & Simon Tamayo-Giraldo & Estefania Tobon-Valencia & Romain Eburdy, 2020. "Identification of critical success factors, risks and opportunities of Industry 4.0 in SMEs," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(5), pages 1384-1400, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maciel M. Queiroz & Samuel Fosso Wamba & Charbel Jose Chiappetta Jabbour & Ana Beatriz Lopes de Sousa Jabbour & Marcio Cardoso Machado, 2025. "Adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies by organizations: a maturity levels perspective," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 348(3), pages 1989-2015, May.
    2. Miftahurrohman Miftahurrohman & Eko Sediyono & Albert Kriestian Novi Adhi Nugraha, 2022. "The Model of the Sustainability of E-commerce Adoption: A Study on Carved Furniture SMEs in Indonesia," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 30(1), pages 466-483, April.
    3. Estensoro, Miren & Larrea, Miren & Müller, Julian M. & Sisti, Eduardo, 2022. "A resource-based view on SMEs regarding the transition to more sophisticated stages of industry 4.0," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 778-792.
    4. Paolo Bogarelli & Nicola Castellano, 2023. "L?implementazione di tecnologie 4.0 nelle piccole imprese: analisi di un caso di successo," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2023(2), pages 137-164.
    5. repec:ehu:cuader:69660 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Eslami, Mohammad H. & Achtenhagen, Leona & Bertsch, Cedric Tobias & Lehmann, Annika, 2023. "Knowledge-sharing across supply chain actors in adopting Industry 4.0 technologies: An exploratory case study within the automotive industry," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 186(PA).
    7. Hyuk Chung & Kyunam Kim, 2023. "Can open innovation improve technological outcomes for digital transformation?: Structural approach to strategic decisions of Korean ICT SMEs," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(8), pages 4404-4421, December.
    8. Tatik Suryani & Abu Amar Fauzi & Margaret L. Sheng & Mochamad Nurhadi, 2024. "Developing and testing a measurement scale for SMEs’ website quality (SMEs-WebQ): Evidence from Indonesia," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 1763-1794, September.
    9. Ricci, Riccardo & Battaglia, Daniele & Neirotti, Paolo, 2021. "External knowledge search, opportunity recognition and industry 4.0 adoption in SMEs," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    10. Rosillo-Díaz, Elena & Muñoz-Rosas, Juan Francisco & Blanco-Encomienda, Francisco Javier, 2024. "Impact of heuristic–systematic cues on the purchase intention of the electronic commerce consumer through the perception of product quality," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    11. Sony, Michael & Naik, Subhash, 2020. "Industry 4.0 integration with socio-technical systems theory: A systematic review and proposed theoretical model," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    12. Sayef Bakari & Sofien Tiba & Nissar Fakraoui, 2019. "Does Domestic Investment Contribute To Economic Growth In Uruguay? What Did The Empirical Facts Say?," Journal of Smart Economic Growth, , vol. 4(2), pages 53-69, September.
    13. Zahoor, Nadia & Zopiatis, Anastasios & Adomako, Samuel & Lamprinakos, Grigorios, 2023. "The micro-foundations of digitally transforming SMEs: How digital literacy and technology interact with managerial attributes," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    14. Anhang Chen & Huiqin Zhang & Yuxiang Zhang & Junwei Zhao, 2024. "Manufacturers’ digital transformation under carbon cap-and-trade policy: investment strategy and environmental impact," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-14, December.
    15. Makomborero Bure & Robertson K. Tengeh, 2019. "Implementation of internal controls and the sustainability of SMEs in Harare in Zimbabwe," Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, vol. 7(1), pages 201-218, September.
    16. Durga Prasad Penumuru & Sreekumar Muthuswamy & Premkumar Karumbu, 2020. "Identification and classification of materials using machine vision and machine learning in the context of industry 4.0," Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, Springer, vol. 31(5), pages 1229-1241, June.
    17. Sunday C. Eze & Vera C. A. Chinedu-Eze & Hart O. Awa, 2021. "Key Success Factors (KSFs) Underlying the Adoption of Social Media Marketing Technology," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, April.
    18. Najwa AKERMI & Nadia Ben YEDDER & Sayef BAKARI, 2024. "Impact of final consumption, domestic investment, exports, and imports on economic growth in Albania," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania / Editura Economica, vol. 0(1(638), S), pages 231-252, Spring.
    19. Bakari, Sayef, 2017. "Why is South Africa Still a Developing Country?," MPRA Paper 80763, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Moustafa Elnadi & Yasser Omar Abdallah, 2024. "Industry 4.0: critical investigations and synthesis of key findings," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 74(2), pages 711-744, June.
    21. Jianhua Zhu & Julien S. Baker & Zhiting Song & Xiao-Guang Yue & Wenqi Li, 2023. "Government regulatory policies for digital transformation in small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises: an evolutionary game analysis," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-18, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bcp:journl:v:9:y:2025:issue-3:p:1499-1512. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Dr. Pawan Verma (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.