Abstract:
This study researches the barriers that organisations in the developing world must overcome in order to implement
an effective e-commerce solution. The study also examine the barriers that are faced by customers in the
developed world when dealing with organisations in the developing world.
The barriers include issues such as a lack of Internet access, lack of electricity, payment gateway options, trust,
security, logistics and technical expertise. Research surveys were analysed by both groups and also a case study /
interview was created with Women Skill Development Multi-cooperative organisation in Kathmandu, Nepal.
This research is applicable to bridging the gap between entrepreneurs in developing countries and prospective
customers in the developed world. The Millennium Development Goals are particularly relevant for this thesis.
The project investigates the barriers/stigmas encountered when conducting business with organisations in the
developing world. The project aims to bridge the gap between nations with high-speed Internet connections and
those in the developing world with low-speed connectivity options.
A prototype off-line e-commerce SaaS application was also developed for use in the developing world. It is a
complete e-commerce solution providing access to multiple payment gateways, uses HTML5 local storage and
HTML5 off-line application caching based on the Ruby on Rails application framework.
