THIRD PARTY E-COMMERCE PLATFORMS: BENEFITS AND BARRIERS FOR RETAIL BUSINESSES IN NIGERIA

THIRD PARTY E-COMMERCE PLATFORMS: BENEFITS AND BARRIERS FOR RETAIL BUSINESSES IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the impact of the adoption of third party electronic commerce platforms on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) companies in Nigeria. This thesis describes the drivers for e-commerce adoption and investigates the barriers and benefits to the companies when starting the process of implementation. A qualitative research was performed and an adductive approach was used, where the research findings and the theoretical background were connected by going back and forward in the process of analysis. Questionnaires were distributed to registered merchants who have electronic store fronts in the three major e-commerce platforms.

This study shows that the adoption of e-commerce is extremely low compared to what obtains in Asia and Western nations. The decisions for e-commerce adoption are dependent on the knowledge of the owner /manager. Main benefits of e-commerce adoption are higher profit as a result of the expanded market share, improved internal efficiency and increased information exchange. The results suggest that companies value less than before the cost factor and consider the lack of knowledge as a main barrier.

The most significant benefits derived from third party electronic commerce adoption and usage were the huge direct marketing planning and implementation it lifts off the shoulders of the merchants, improved quality of information and communicating with e-commerce site partners. Regarding barriers, awareness and technical know-how appeared to be the biggest barrier.

Keywords: Electronic commerce, third-party e-commerce, storefront, retail business, TAM, Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU),

TABLE OF CONTENT

Title Page

Certification

Acknowledgement

Abstract

Table of Contents

Chapter One – Introduction

1.1       Background to the Study.

1.2       What Is Third Party E-commerce?

1.3       How did Third Party E-commerce come about?

1.4       Statement of the Problem

1.5       Objective of the Study

1.6       Research Questions

1.7       Research Hypothesis

1.8       Scope and Limitation of the Study

1.9       Significance of the Study

Chapter Two – Literature Review

2.1       Introduction

2.2       Conceptual Framework

2.2.1    The Concept of Third Party E-commerce

2.2 2    History of E-Commerce

2.2.2    Your website versus third-party ecommerce platform

2.2.3    The Role of Third Party E-commerce

2.2..     TAM And E-Commerces

2.2.      Comparison of Traditional Commerce and E-Commerce

2.2.      E-Commerce and Value Chain

2.2.      Classification of E-Commerce

2.2.4    Models Of Third Party E-commerce

2.3     Theoretical Framework

2.4       Empirical Analysis

Chapter Three – Research Methods

3.1       Introduction

3.2       Research Design

3.3       Population of the Study

3.4       Sample Size

3.6       Data Collection

3.8       Data Analysis 

THIRD PARTY E-COMMERCE PLATFORMS: BENEFITS AND BARRIERS FOR RETAIL BUSINESSES IN NIGERIA