Exploring The Role of E-Commerce on Sme’s Marketing Performance through Ai Integration

Abstract

This study examines the effect of E-commerce adoption and AI integration on the marketing performance of Pakistani SME. The opportunities associated with strategic application of e-commerce and AI technologies are high in terms of helping SMEs to enhance efficiency in their operations, the level of interaction with the customers, and competitiveness as the world is turning digital rapidly. Data were collected in a quantitative, cross-sectional study design by way of a structured survey among employees of 2530 SMEs. Researching with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), it is demonstrated that between innovative culture and marketing performance, e-commerce adoption and marketing performance, the correlation between AI integration and the latter is significant and highly mediated. The moderating effect of competitive pressure is observed to be the smallest on the integration of AI, even though innovative culture has a significant positive effect. The findings contribute to the existing body of knowledge by addressing a major gap in the existing research on emerging markets and the South Asian context particularly. Practical implications are the fact that SMEs should encourage innovative cultures and prioritize strategic investments in AI-enabled digital infrastructure. The research contains valuable information to corporate executives and politicians who want to increase the competitiveness of SMEs, spur economic growth, and help digital transformation in new countries.

Keywords: SME, E-commerce adoption, innovative culture, competitive pressure, implementation of AI, marketing performance, Pakistan.