Ranking the Factors Influencing e-Trading Usage in Agricultural Marketing

This research article attempts to rank the factors influencing continued e-Trading usage in Indian agriculture marketing. The ranking process is the first of its kind application in agricultural e-trading. A review of published literature has helped in identifying key factors influencing e-trading usage in agricultural marketing. The factors are ranked using the efficient Interpretive Ranking Process (IRP) methodology adopted in the context of agricultural marketing. Sixteen expert members, grouped into three different expert panels, have helped generate ranks and validation besides giving suggestions for improving e-trading usage in the context of the National Agriculture Market project (eNAM) in India. It has been found that the top factors influencing e-trading usage are 'Trust', 'Cost', 'Perceived Ease of Use', and 'Facilitating Conditions', respectively. These factors need to be supported with adequate resources to strengthen eNAM in terms of improved usage among the beneficiaries. It is further revealed that immediate attention is needed on aspects such as transparency, quick information dissemination, adequate quality assurance, uniformity in taxes and market fee, improvement in marketing infrastructure, inter-market trade logistics, conflict resolution, mobility and training. Further, the e-trading system's flexibility needs to be enhanced by incorporating modular design options, configurable new features, open-source innovation, cloud computing, and progressive artificial intelligence application.