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Small and medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) have dominated the business sector worldwide, including in Nigeria. SMEs are major contributors to employment generation. They provide opportunities for entrepreneurship and create jobs at both local and national levels. SMEs are often more labour-intensive than larger enterprises, leading to a higher job creation potential per unit of capital invested. SMEs contribute significantly to overall economic growth and competitiveness. Their presence fosters competition in the market, encourages efficiency, and stimulates productivity. SMEs can drive regional development, promote industrial diversification, and contribute to exports, thus enhancing the competitiveness of a country's economy. They have become the main contributors to the global economy. In this regard, 85 to 90% of business establishment all over the globe are categorised as SMEs and has provided significant employment opportunities to the community and countries as well (Herzallah & Mukhtar, 2015; Mwila & Ngoyi, 2019; Hussain et al., 2021; Gao et al., 2023). Governments worldwide have realised the significant role played by SMEs in regional development, specifically in elevating the gross domestic product (GDP). At the same time, SMEs can help growth by providing employment opportunities and eradicating poverty \and (Awa et al., 2015; Agwu & Murray, 2018; Ocloo et al., 2020). It is posited that SMEs could have the opportunity to grow into future large companies and corporations (SBA, 2017) and that the success of SMEs has a significant impact on a country's wealth and economic growth (Ul Hassan & Iqbal, 2020; Shahadat et al., 2023).
SMEs contribute 95% of the economy in most countries (Yaseen et al., 2016), and in Europe, it was reported that SMEs make up 99.8% of established firms. They also provide two-thirds of employment in the region (Ghisetti & Pedraza, 2017). Meanwhile, in Nigeria, SMEs account for 90% of the total established businesses (Ahmad, 2019). Reports state that SMEs contribute an average of 50% of the GDP in high-income countries (Ghisetti & Pedraza, 2017). This highlights the value of comprehensive studies on the business growth of SMEs, and studying SME performance is essential as it supports a country’s development.
The types of e-commerce used are business-to-business (B2B), business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C). Meanwhile, the use of smartphones, tablets, laptop computers, and smart televisions has increased in line with the growth of internet technology. This phenomenon has given rise to e-commerce and created SMEs with business opportunities by connecting them with more diversified customers. E-commerce brought changes by boosting output and effectiveness, assisting companies in transitioning from traditional to digital business models and connecting with new customers locally, regionally, or globally. Previous works, including Yaseen et al. (2016), SBA (2017), Agwu & Murray (2018), Hussain et al. (2021) and Kilay et al. (2022), documented the role of E-commerce in revolutionising businesses, especially in developed countries.
On the contrary, SMEs in developing countries underutilise the networking mechanisms that promote e-commerce and enhance SME performance (OECD, 2017; Khan et al., 2021). This is because SMEs in developing countries have limited access to Internet resources to facilitate e-commerce. As a result, these SMEs are slow to assimilate e-commerce into their businesses (Jamali et al., 2015; Ghisetti & Pedraza, 2017; Agwu & Murray, 2018). Thus, the Nigerian government is invested in improving the sustainability of SME performance by motivating SMEs to increase firms’ competitiveness through e-commerce. E-commerce has become an integral part of the modern economy, transforming how businesses operate and people engage in commerce. Its importance lies in its ability to enhance convenience, global reach, profitability, customer relationships, and innovation.