IN just four years, Jamaican small business owners have witnessed a significant push towards embracing digital growth opportunities. This transformative journey reflects a silent revolution in local business practices, echoing the historical shifts witnessed during the pre-industrial age, the industrial age, the information age, and now the digital age.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), crucial contributors to the nation’s economy, are increasingly leveraging technology to drive growth and innovation across various sectors.

“There’s a lot more of that [digital adoption] now than ever before because you need it to be competitive,” commercial director at Phoenix International, Dmitri Dawkins, said in an interview with the Jamaica Observer. “If you’re not taking that approach and your competitors are taking that approach, that’s competitors locally and internationally, and you will be forced out.”

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated the digital transformation of businesses in the Caribbean, prompting a widespread adoption of e-commerce and other digital technologies to adapt to changing consumer behaviours and streamline operations. This sector has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years, with the pandemic acting as a catalyst for its expansion.

“We need to realise that technology is becoming more and more indispensable to how we live, operate, function, and conduct business,” remarked Charles Douglas, director of regulatory affairs at Flow Jamaica, in a previous 2021
Jamaica Observer report. “The novel coronavirus pandemic has accelerated this direction, emphasising the urgent need for Jamaica to continually improve and expand its digital capabilities.”

Since the onset of the pandemic, SMEs have swiftly embraced the e-commerce model of retail, supported by initiatives such as the E-commerce Funder. This partnership between EXIM Bank and JMEA provides business loans to web-based merchants, enabling them to enhance their online presence, cover marketing expenses, and boost sales. Furthermore, the Bank of Jamaica’s annual report for 2023 indicates a notable increase in the utilisation of point-of-sale (POS) machines. This shift towards electronic payment methods signifies consumers’ growing preference for cashless transactions, particularly in response to disruptions in automated banking machines (ABMs).

There are differing views, however, on what a technology-inclusive business looks like. Dawkins emphasises that every business is inherently tech-enabled in today’s digital landscape.

“Every single company, whether or not they think they are, is tech-enabled because, from using just a phone now, we are using all digital lines for a regular phone call, so everyone is just on a spectrum of how tech-enabled they are; it’s just on a day-to-day operation,” he said while speaking with the
Business Observer.

While the founder and CEO of Amber Group Limited Dushyant Savadia believes a majority of Jamaican businesses are embracing innovation as a natural progression in their business, not many are embracing digital transformation as a tool to enhance their business service. There have been innovative businesses at the forefront of integrating technology into their operations, exemplifying a seamless blend of digital and physical experiences. Companies like QuickPlate, Jamaica Broilers, and K-Ban Hardware showcase pioneering solutions that bridge the gap between traditional and digital commerce. K-Ban is the first local business to operate a full digital store within a physical space, much like a self-help store. Haughton’s Pharmacy, an established business with over a century of history, stands out as a recent addition to the technology sphere. Through the adoption of state-of-the-art drone delivery technology, an innovative
RxPak mobile app, and a user-friendly RxPLUS digital wallet, Haughton’s Pharmacy exemplifies the progressive approach towards digital transformation.

While strides have been made in integrating technology, experts caution that the adoption of technology as a tool for enhancing business remains relatively slow, and Jamaica currently ranks 83 out of 135 on the global innovation index.

“Post-pandemic, I realised digitalisation slowed down again because people started going out and buying goods and services in the fashion they used to pre-pandemic, and the need for businesses to then accelerate their technology group slowed down because of customer behaviour,” Savadia shared with the
Business Observer.

Customer behaviour has been cited as the common denominator for businesses adopting technology outside of simple progression in the digital age. Dawkins underscores the imperative for businesses to embrace technology as a means of enhancing competitiveness and meeting evolving consumer demands. He cites that the notion that Jamaicans are resistant to technology is debunked by industry experts, who assert that consumers are ready for technological advancements. While challenges such as talent acquisition and capital investment persist, there is a collective call to accelerate Jamaica’s growth through technological innovation and harness the potential of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence.

“We have high mobile internet penetration, but the application of the technology is lacking significantly. We got a big bump because of the pandemic, but you have new technology now, especially with artificial intelligence, that people internationally are leveraging to generate value, and I don’t think we are doing enough of that locally which will give us a huge advantage over our international counterparts,” Dawkins said.