Implementing E-Marketing in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises for Enhanced Sustainability

Background Of The Study

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are indispensable drivers of economic growth and development of several economies. A large percentage of businesses in the world are SMEs and are essential creators of employment and economic sustainability (World Bank,2021). They are responsible for up to 90% of enterprises and more than half of all job generation worldwide. In 2021, World Bank estimated that 600 million employments will be required to meet global demand for jobs by 2030, hence reasons why governments around the world must prioritize the growth of SMEs. The adoption of the internet for electronically facilitated exchanges (e-commerce) has proliferated in relation to the surge in commercial websites. Orders can be placed and filled, products and services provided, and have lowered international market entry barriers offering opportunities to multitudes of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) attempting to penetrate new markets by empowering them to effectively interact globally like any giant corporation. Notwithstanding the substantial contributions to the economy, SMEs encounter a range of obstacles, including limited access to finance, insufficient infrastructure, shortage of power supply, adverse taxation and government regulations, and most recently, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the subsequent widespread lockdown enforced by governments, inflicted a major blow to SMEs leading to difficulty to obtain raw materials for production and operational processes; the curfew and lockdowns deterred SMEs from gaining valuable customer patronage, and the high cost of productive materials resulted in financial disaster for most SMEs already suffering from the impacts of a shortage of finance. While the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on most SMEs, large-scale businesses like banking, telecommunications, and e-commerce experienced considerable improvements in profitability, sales, and performance during the pandemic. The integration of marketing and business operational processes into online channels and platforms was the single most significant success factor for these large-scale businesses, as it enabled them to continue marketing activities despite the lockdown, culminating in enhanced customer patronage, the volume of sales, and profit growth.