E-Commerce Decision-Making Factors in Peruvian Organizations of the Retail Sector

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to identify, by an exploratory approach, the main factors of decision-making on adopting e-commerce technologies in Peruvian organizations of the retail sector. The study was based on the application of 80 on-line surveys and 8 interviews with experts. The main findings of the quantitative analysis, based on a structural model with a high reliability and validity index, indicate the main factors that influence decision-making on adopting e-commerce technologies, is the awareness that high investments in technologies generate profit in the long-term (motivating factor) and risks of innovation (inhibiting factors), in addition to other factors that influence at a lower level as the organizational culture, the attitudes of innovation and optimism to the use of technologies of decision-makers, people’s skills, and process flexibility to adapt them to e-commerce activities, among others. The qualitative analysis allows further the study and identify specific details which can make a significant contribution to knowledge generation and practical application in the organizations, which gives us an extensive list of aspects that have to be managed appropriately, and can thus lead the investments and mitigate the risks.