A Systematic Literature Review of Digital Transformation through E-commerce Adoption in Small and Medium Enterprises

Abstract: With the adoption of e-commerce platforms, businesses including Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have widened their markets and outweighed the limitations of physical locations, to stay relevant, competitive and sustainable. In this context, this article aims to explore the relation between digital transformation, e-commerce and SMEs and their interdependence through a systematic literature review (SLR). The SLR (using PRISMA technique and VosViewer software) is based on the publications retrieved from the Web of Science database between the years 2015 to 2022. The results reveal the primacy of three relationships represented via clusters (themes) viz., (i) integration between SMEs and digitalization (ii) barriers in adoption of e-commerce by SMEs and (iii) impact of digital transformation on the performance of SMEs. Based on interactions among these themes, the paper proposes a conceptual framework integrating sustainability at its core. Keywords: SME, E-Commerce Adoption, Digital Transformation, Sustainability, SLR