Determinants of the Locus of Global E-Commerce

Abstract

Internet and e-commerce are experiencing hyperbolic growth rates and highly asymmetric global distribution. There is also a significant variation worldwide in the means used to access the Internet and the e-commerce models adopted. This paper attempts to identify and synthesize the available evidence on predictors of magnitude, global distribution and forms of e-commerce. The analysis indicates that the twin forces of globalisation and major revolutions in ICT are fuelling the rapid growth of global e-commerce. On the other hand, economic and infrastructure related factors, cultural factors, political and legal factors and the activities of supranational institutions determine the proportion of the global e-commerce a country is likely to receive and the forms in which it is implemented. The success of a company is a function of its ability to understand how various environmental factors influence the optimum combination of fixed and mobile telecommunications networks in a country; appropriateness of a product to be sold online; website design; payment mechanism; delivery means; etc.

Keywords: E-commerce, globalisation, socio-cultural factors, political factors, economic factors, supranational institutions