Social media behaviors and barriers impacting women e-commerce entrepreneurs in rural Australia: A pilot study

E-commerce businesses have proven to offer lifelines for residents in regional, rural, and remote (RRR) locations traditionally reliant on agricultural income. Prolonged droughts and frequent floods have had devastating impacts on the ability to farm, propelling the need to generate off-farm income to survive. This ever-growing necessity to overcome climate hardship has catalyzed a new generation of women e-commerce entrepreneurs in RRR Australia, in turn, supporting community development. Our study focuses on interviews with successful women e-commerce entrepreneurs from rural Queensland, Australia, to explore the common barriers they face and their use of social media to connect with consumers throughout Australia and globally. Results identified their three greatest challenges to be product supply, product distribution, and unreliable internet connectivity. Data exploring social media behaviors suggested a strong reliance on Facebook and Instagram to drive website traffic and generate sales. This study provides a unique contribution to knowledge regarding an under-researched segment of entrepreneurs, and how they contribute to community development.