DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF BUSINESS THROUGH E-COMMERCE IN SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES (SME'S)

The crisis caused by Covid-19 confirmed that only those companies that are able to quickly and efficiently transform their business, first of all, by applying and using digital technologies, can be competitive and survive on the market. The paper analyzes the percentage of companies that apply digital tools through electronic sales and trade in the Republic of Serbia and neighboring countries, both full members of the EU and candidate countries for the EU. Using Eurostat data, it was shown the percentage of companies that made e-sales, then the percentage of turnover from e-commerce, as well as the percentage of companies that made sales through their own websites in pre-crisis 2019 as well as in the years after it. The results show that in terms of e-commerce, Serbia achieved the best results in 2019 and that it is above the average of the Western Balkans countries, as well regarding the percentage of turnover from e-commerce Serbia is far below the average of EU countries and countries of the Western Balkans, while in terms of web sales via its own website, Serbia is above the average of the Western Balkans countries.