An Exploratory Study of Business to Consumer E-Commerce Adoption by Businesses in Singapore

Abstract

Many market research companies forecast that B2C e-commerce will register higher growth rates in the coming years due to the rapid increase in Internet penetration and IT literacy globally. Singapore possesses high Internet penetration and IT literacy. In 2004, Singapore ranked 7th in e-readiness, ahead of other countries in the Asia Pacific region. Singapore has the regulatory framework, infrastructure, and capabilities to promote the use of the Internet and e-commerce. However, Singapore ranked lower than other countries in the region such as Korea and New Zealand in B2C e-commerce participation. Most research in Singapore has focused on the factors affecting the consumersa?? participation in B2C e-commerce. This thesis explores the businessesa?? participation by exploring the factors affecting businessesa?? participation, assessing the level of e-commerce development in Singapore, and if the government is doing what businesses expect, as well as identifying businessesa?? awareness of the e-commerce regulatory framework.