Abstract
This study focused on utilization of e-commerce platforms by small and medium scale business operators in Ebonyi South Senatorial Zone of Ebonyi State. The specific purpose was to determine Web intelligence platforms and social networking platforms utilized by small and medium scale Operators in Ebonyi South Senatorial zone of Ebonyi State. The study was carried out in Ebonyi South zone of Ebonyi State. Population for the study comprised 103 Small and medium scale business operators in Ebonyi South zone of Ebonyi state. No sample was taken in view of the manageable size of the population. The study adopted a survey research design. Questionnaires were used for data collection. The overall Reliability coefficient of the instrument was 0.94. Mean, standard deviation and t-test statistic were used to analyze the data. The result of the study revealed that the 12 web platforms such as Google marketing analytics, Similarweb, Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, Hoot-suite insight, Sprout Social, Brandwatch, Crimson Hexagon, NetBase, Qlik and Oracle Analytics Cloud are utilized at low extent by small and medium scale Operators and social networking platforms such as Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Crunchbase, Instagram, Twitter are utilized at low extent by small and medium scale in Ebonyi South zone of Ebonyi state. The result of t-test results shows that there was no significant difference in the mean ratings of male and female SMEs operators on the extent of utilizing web intelligence platforms. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that Managers of small and medium scale businesses should utilize several web intelligence and networking platforms to promote SMEs growth and performance. Furthermore, SMEs should also ensure that all online transactions are done with trusted persons whose identities are not anonymous and should use secured websites as well as document receipts of every online commercial activity.