A Review of Literature on E-commerce at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Its Past,Present and Future

Abstract

This article aims to identify, categorize and review the literature on e-commerce applications at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP). A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted using databases such as Scopus, Web of Science, EBSCOhost and ProQuest. Sixty-seven articles were reviewed and categorized into three major themes. The findings revealed that the attention paid to the role of e-commerce in emerging BoP economies has increased over the last five years. We found that the literature can be grouped into three categories: the role of e-commerce in the context of BoP entrepreneurs, consumers and private and non-profit organizations. The review findings were classified into a framework. This is the first SLR to provide an overview of e-commerce in the BoP context. The framework classifies the literature on e-commerce, highlights research gaps and provides suggestions for future research.