The Significant Impact of E-Commerce on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

The Covid-19 pandemic has had negative repercussions on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), resulting in rising debt, personal insolvencies, and a financial system weighed down by non-performing loans. This difficult situation is expected to persist for a while. Therefore, it is vital for Malaysian SMEs to find ways to withstand this challenging period. While the potential benefits of e-commerce for SMEs are acknowledged, a detailed assessment of its merits and the degree of adoption during crises is still unclear. As a result, this research seeks to examine the performance differences between SMEs that have and have not adopted e-commerce during the Covid-19 crisis. The study's goal is to evaluate the impact of e-commerce on SMEs in a specific area during the pandemic. Various methods were employed to gather data, including assessing digital adoption among SMEs, identifying the driving factors and obstacles to e-commerce adoption, and appraising its value in the context of the pandemic. Primary data was obtained through extensive interviews without setting specific targets or quotas, owing to the lack of census information on e-commerce-oriented SMEs. Although certain obstacles may impede e-commerce adoption in specific industries, SMEs that have embraced it are expected to outperform conventional businesses. Nevertheless, this may not be enough to entirely offset the adverse economic effects of the pandemic.