E-commerce Adoption of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises During COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from South Asian Countries

COVID-19 has spread across the world in the last two years, confining people to their homes and shutting down businesses and markets. The world is currently experiencing a catastrophic economic and social crisis. To benefit people and to protect them, industries invented new products. These products were made by small and medium-sized businesses across the globe. In South Asia, there was also a rigorous lockdown, people were laid off, and SMEs adopted E-commerce to assist clients and customers. Therefore, the study aims to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on E-commerce adoption through open innovation strategies in South Asian countries. 500 respondents were selected through an online questionnaire to collect data from different countries of South Asia. The prominent countries are; India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The results of the study show that perceived compatibility and complexity have a positive influence on E-commerce adoption. In normal circumstances, however, the open innovation model is feasible. Knowledge and experience sharing and management attitude have a moderate impact on E-commerce adoption. These results are beneficial for researchers and SME managers in South Asia to overcome the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and increase the number of skilled people employed. This study suggests that SMEs should hire skilled workers to upgrade their systems.