E-commerce and E-marketplace Usage in Selected Small and Medium Agribusiness Food Manufacturing Enterprises in Cavite

Date

5-2017

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness Management

College

College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Loida E. Mojica

Committee Member

Arlene C. Gutierrez, Dia Noelle F. Velasco, Agnes T. Banzon, Dinah Pura T. Depositario

Abstract

The use of e-marketplace is one of the innovative ways adopted by food manufacturing SMEs to cope with the challenges of increasing competition brought about by the internationalization of markets.

This study mainly focused on the role and effects of e-marketplace usage among food manufacturing SMEs in Cavite. The study also aims to: (1) present the socio-demographic characteristics of the entrepreneurs involved in food manufacturing businesses in Cavite; (2) identify their e-commerce and e-marketplace adoption; 3) determine and evaluate whether the roles and effects of e-marketplace platform usage identified from previous studies are evident in food manufacturing businesses; (4) assess barriers and challenges experienced by the entrepreneurs in using the e-marketplace website; and (5) and provide insights and recommendations on how can agribusiness entrepreneurs better use the e-marketplace platform.

The framework used in this research consists of the role as well as the effects of e-marketplace usage in terms of financial and customer service and satisfaction.

The study was conducted using survey questionnaires answered by 50 respondents. Majority of the respondents were engaged in manufacturing of baked products. Survey results show that mobile phone was highly utilized in the manufacturing firms. More than half of the respondents adopted e-commerce and majority of the e-commerce adopter owned and managed social media accounts.

Among the e-commerce users, less than half made use of e-marketplace. Findings showed that majority of e-marketplace users were those who manufactured baked products since more detailed transactions could be done online. Among the role of e-marketplace identified, communications and exchange was the most cited. This included the capacity to communicate and exchange information faster than traditional commerce. The benefits e-marketplace brought about were also identified. An increase in sales was identified by the respondents as the most evident benefit to the company.

The effects of e-marketplace in terms of financial performance and customer service and satisfaction were measured. The businesses were categorized based on business size and product line. Results showed that all the respondents across product lines and sizes indicated an increase in sales after the participation in e-marketplace platforms. On the other hand, most manufacturers of processed fruits and vegetable, snacks and confectionary and baked products were able to reduce inventory cost. All respondents also indicated an increase in customer base except the processed fruit and vegetables firms

Participation in e-marketplaces was also able to improve transaction costs as well as the duration of acquiring customer until the point-of-sale. This also included the reduction in time in responding to customer inquiries as well as the duration between billing and payment.

Among non-adopters of e-marketplace, majority found it hard to be part of the e-marketplace platforms since it required regular website updating which was time consuming. Some of the respondents also stated that some e-marketplaces required membership fees that would only add to the company’s cost.

It was recommended that food manufacturing practitioners invest time and resources to expand their operations to online platforms. This would enable the businesses to gain a competitive advantage as the globalization take place.

Government agencies such as the Department of Trade and Industry and Department of Agriculture should conduct seminars and trainings among agribusiness SMEs players which would enable business owners to fully grasp the effects of e-commerce and e-marketplace in the business. The said agencies should also build a partnership with IT institutions like PLDT. The government should be able to cooperate with IT companies in order to hasten the adoption of e-commerce in the country.

Lastly, this study was only limited to determining whether the role and effects of e-marketplace identified from previous studies were evident in food manufacturing SMEs in Cavite. Future researches may opt to study further the measurement of the effects of e-marketplace websites. The drivers of participation in e-commerce and e-marketplace may also be identified. Moreover, since this study focused on food manufacturers in Cavite, future researches may also be conducted in a different sector and/or location.

Language

English

LC Subject

Business enterprise-- Philippines, Electronic commerce

Location

UPLB College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Call Number

LG 993 2017 M17 D45

Notes

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Document Type

Thesis

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