ANT Perspective of E-Commerce Adoption by Retail Stores in South Africa

Despite the benefits of the e-commerce which has been widely reported, South African grocery retail enterprises have sparsely adopted the concept. The lack of, or slow pace of adoption and participation in the e-commerce concept is a problem in that some South African retail stores are challenged with competitiveness, and individuals are constrained and limited with options in their attempts to partake in electronic transactions with retailers. This research was undertaken to examine and understand the factors, from both technical and non-technical perspectives, that influence the adoption of the e-commerce concept within the South African environment. The case study approach was applied from interpretivist perspective. Actor-network theory was used in the analysis of the data. Based on the findings and interpretation of the findings, a framework was developed, which guides an understanding of the factors that influence the adoption of e-commerce in mainstream retail grocery sector in South Africa.