E-commerce adoption in SMEs of Asian developing countries: a bibliometric study

Baryalai Baryal, Zhanna S. Belyaeva

Abstract


Relevance. E-commerce adoption contributes to the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Asian developing countries, determining their growth and sustainability in a digitalized market. However, the lack of comprehensive study of themes, trends and new directions in the research area presents a literature gap. This research fills the gaps by conducting a literature review on e-commerce adoption among SMEs in the past three decades.

Research Objective. This study aims to conduct bibliometric review of peer-reviewed publications on e-commerce adoption among SMEs to identify major trends, themes, and future research directions.

Data and Methods. The research utilized data containing 5903 research items from Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar dated 2000–2024. Multiple analytical techniques, including citation analysis, co-authorship network analysis, keyword co-occurrence analysis and trend analysis were conducted using VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and Bibliometrix (R package).

Results. The study presents the initial systematic bibliometric mapping that specifically studies the adoption of e-commerce in SMEs in Asian developing economies within a period of 24 years. The findings indicate that there is a general trend toward the adoption of new technology (AI and mobile commerce) in e-commerce. The co-occurrence network shows the effects of technical advancement and market forces on e-commerce activities. The review highlights regional visibility of research in Southeast Asia (Indonesia and Malaysia). South Asian outlook (India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan) is also significant. While Central/West Asia is under-researched.

Conclusions. The study offers useful insights to researchers and practitioners who are interested in the evolving research on the topic of e-commerce adoption and its implications on SME’s performance.


Keywords


SMEs, E-commerce, adoption, Bibliometric analysis, Asian developing countries

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.15826/recon.2026.12.2.009

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