The effects of e-commerce on small rural businesses: An assessment utilizing actual sales data

Small businesses are unique entities in the marketplace. They represent a large portion of both employment and total sales in any economy, yet they received a disproportionately low level of attention in research. This paper examines the effects of electronic commerce on rural small businesses scattered across a single state in the United States of America. The primary data Source is a common sales database which supports the electronic commerce activities of all the businesses in the Study. Businesses in the database were further surveyed to answer specific questions regarding their electronic commerce activities and the effects of electronic commerce at the firm level. Initial results indicate that electronic commerce has a generally positive effect on rural small businesses, particularly given the rather unique nature of these business entities relative to) their more urban and larger counterparts.