Washington – A new report from the CCIA Research Center and Analysis Group illuminates the powerful symbiotic relationship between small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and third-party providers of digital services. The report demonstrates that e-commerce tech has led to an highly significant upturn in small business success, where retail startups have a higher survival rate now than at any point over the past 30 years, according to parallel research.
The report outlines the types of challenges that SMBs face when beginning or expanding operations and provides case studies illustrating the ways that third-party facilitators such as Shopify and PayPal help businesses overcome those challenges to compete with incumbents. For example, apparel retailer Bombas has used Shopify’s ecommerce-enabling website tools to scale quickly in response to strong consumer demand, allowing the budding retailer to compete strongly with large and entrenched companies. The findings show that small retailers’ use of digital services benefits consumers directly through lower prices and higher variety, and indirectly through enhanced innovation through competition.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association has advocated for tech policy that advances competition, innovation, and consumer welfare for over 50 years.
The following can be attributed to CCIA Chief Economist and Research Center Director Trevor Wagener:
“This research demonstrates that e-commerce tech has brought about a small business renaissance in the U.S. Retail startups are 18% more likely to survive at least five years today than they were in the early 1990s – all thanks to digital tools and online shopping, which has significantly leveled the playing field in retail.”
