Adoption of e-commerce in Nigerian supermarkets
Creators: name: Anaehobi, Humphrey
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024

description: Many business organisations employ e-commerce to enhance their business performance and increase their profitability in the current global competitive environment. Most supermarket chains in developed countries have advanced in their adoption levels of this 21st-century imperative business model, but the adoption levels among supermarket chains in Nigeria and other developing countries still fall below expectation. Also, the sustainability of adoption appears to be problematic for some early adopters within the supermarket industry. Although a vast literature exists on the adoption of e-commerce in developed as well as in developing countries, those of developing countries are majorly on SMEs. Therefore, this study considers e-commerce adoption in Nigerian supermarket chains, exploring the current levels of adoption, benefits of adoption, and challenges to adoption. It further seeks to devise measures to improve e-commerce adoption and sustainability among supermarket chains. To achieve these objectives, a conceptual framework based on the integration of the Technology-Organisation-Environment framework with the Diffusion of Innovation theory was developed. 

The study employs a mixed research method quantitative dominant. One hundred and sixty-six valid questionnaires provided data for quantitative analysis. Fifteen semi-structured interviews provided qualitative data which supported the findings from the quantitative study. Descriptive analysis was used to explain participants’ demographic profile, the current e-commerce adoption level and adoption benefits, while multinomial logistic regression was employed to examine the eight proposed hypotheses based on the factors affecting e-commerce adoption. The research findings reveal that there are three active levels of e-commerce adoption within Nigerian supermarket chains. These three active levels include the e-interactivity, the e-transaction, and the e-enterprise levels, with the e-interactivity level as the dominant level of adoption (72.3%). The top six e-commerce adoption benefits were found to include creating new channels for advertising, enhancing competitive advantage, improving customer services and satisfaction, growing customer base, improving sales and revenue, and extending market reach. The multinomial logistic regression result shows that relative advantage, compatibility, technology readiness, top management support, managers’ knowledge and attitude towards ecommerce, and government support were significant predictors with positive influence on the adoption levels of e-commerce in Nigerian supermarket chains. Top government support and government support were the most influential factors as they were both significant in differentiating between e-transaction and e-interactivity levels, and between e-enterprise and e-interactivity levels of adoption. The other four factors were able to differentiate only between e-transaction and e-interactivity levels, whereas market environment pressure was found to be insignificant in differentiating between any two levels of adoption. Addressing security concerns regarding online transactions is at the top of the list of measures recommended for improving e-commerce adoption in Nigerian supermarket chains.The findings have implications for public policymakers, IT vendors, and supermarket chains. The study recommends that public policymakers should employ the findings of this study in making policies and legislations that will improve e-commerce adoption levels and sustainability, not only within the supermarket chains but across many sectors in Nigeria. The need for improving e-commerce and its sustainability in Nigeria cannot be over-emphasized as it is a vibrant source of e-economic growth which can significantly add to the country’s GDP. For the IT vendors and e-commerce consultants, it is recommended that they employ the findings of this study to design and develop strategies for a sustainable high level of ecommerce adoption for the supermarket chains in Nigeria. Furthermore, it is recommended that the decision-makers in the supermarkets should employ the framework provided by this study to evaluate their current level of e-commerce adoption and develop a roadmap and strategy to improve their adoption levels for better benefits.By providing a comprehensive knowledge of the current level of e-commerce adoption in Nigerian supermarket chains, the adoption benefits, factors affecting adoption levels and a framework for a sustainable higher level of adoption, this study has made a significant contribution to both theory and practice. The findings of this study can also be applied in improving e-commerce adoption in supermarket chains in other developing countries.