Why the Latin American Footwear Industry Still Lags Behind in E-Commerce Adoption

Latin American countries have made important investments in digital infrastructure, but there is still an important gap in information and communication technologies (ICT) and e-commerce adoption. The objective of this chapter is to analyze e-commerce adoption by the footwear manufacturing firms of Ecuador. For this purpose, a sample of firms of the province of Tungurahua has been analyzed. Results show that the dominance of micro-businesses in the sector, age, the low level of education and of computer literacy are barriers to e-commerce adoption in this industry. Additionally, it was found that the behavior of micro-businesses and small firms in terms of e-commerce adoption is different. The results are important for governments that want to grow e-commerce adoption among businesses, as they show that additionally to economic and sociopolitical factors, the characteristics of business sectors, and individual characteristics of the business owner are key drivers for ITC adoption.