The intent of this paper is to provide empirically tested and validated metrics to capture the gradual adoption of ecommerce among manufacturing SMEs. The results suggest that e-commerce adoption is purposely undertaken in a cumulative, and thus path-dependent, way. The findings also demonstrate that most SMEs follow e-commerce adoption trajectories. The proposed stage model for e-commerce adoption and the derived index of e-commerce penetration represent potentially valuable contributions. KEYWORDS E-commerce adoption, e-commerce indicators, SMEs
Élisabeth Lefebvre, Louis A. Lefebvre