E-Commerce Strategy Adoption and Performance of Micro and Small Enterprises: A Case of Private Security Firms in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

E-commerce has experienced unprecedented growth in the last decade, especially with the continued penetration of the Internet. Even though E-commerce is fraught with various challenges such as poor internet access, lack of technical skill and potential of cybercrime, it presents many benefits to businesses, small and big, local and international. While small companies in Kenya have not fully utilized E-commerce, the trend is fast growing, and the market is increasingly accepting doing business over the internet. This study sought to establish the effects of Ecommerce on the performance of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in the private security sector through four focal points; E-commerce integration, Social media integration, Customer relationship management, and Online marketing strategies to find out their effects on performance measured as sales volume. The retrospective study (2015-2017) had 83 respondents who were members of Protective & Security Association of Kenya (PROSAK) and operated in Nairobi County. Data were analysed using ratios, percentages, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and correlation coefficients. The study found that there are significant benefits associated with adopting E-commerce strategies into an MSE. Sixty per cent of the respondents had a website, and 80% had at least one business social media account for communications with the clients and marketing. Most of the respondents (72%) said they have seen an increase in sales and 82% saw an increase in business profitability since they started using internet marketing and social media in their businesses.