The Internet as a Small Business E-Commerce Ecosystem.

Walton, Nigel and Buxton, Michael (2014) The Internet as a Small Business E-Commerce Ecosystem. In: E-Commerce Platform Acceptance: Suppliers, Retailers and Consumers. Springer International Publishing, Zurich, Switerland, pp. 79-100. ISBN Print: 978-3-319-06120-7 Online: 978-3-319-06121-4

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Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to analyse how the ecosystem concept can be applied to small businesses and how the Internet and e-commerce can help SMEs harness the required resources to enhance their competitive performance in
the marketplace. The chapter will investigate the wide variety of e-commerce applications that are available to small businesses to help address the issue of limited resources. It will provide an ecosystem map illustrating how each functional area of a small business can utilise Internet e-commerce applications to enhance their resource base. The chapter also explores the opportunities and
threats that the e-commerce ecosystem model poses for small, medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This is based upon empirical research consisting of three focus group interviews undertaken with small and medium-sized retail service firms located in the Herefordshire and Worcestershire regions of the United Kingdom in January–February 2014.

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