E-Commerce Adoption by Micro Firms: A Qualitative Investigation in the UK Tourism Sector

This paper discusses the next stage of Internet usage by micro-businesses in the tourism sector, namely e-Commerce. Motivations for e-Commerce adoptions are examined and the perceived barriers are investigated. Moreover, experiences of the adopters are explored to identify the benefits gained and problems encountered. A qualitative approach is used and a pilot study conducted. In-depth face-to-face interviews with semi-structured questionnaires were conducted with twenty case studies, with a mix of e-Commerce adopters and non-adopters. The Critical Incident technique was used to encourage business owners to identify their experiences with this new business method. Preliminary results show that there are a number of ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors that reinforce business owners’ decisions in adopting the e-Commerce method. The findings have implications for researchers and policymakers. The diversity of small firms has led to the need to tailor policy initiatives and training programmes. In addition, this study is replicable in other small business sectors that face the next step of development in Internet usage.