ICTs as creators of competitive advantage

ICTs are a vital tool for micro and small enterprises that, working together with other resources such as materials, raw materials, energy, human capital, information and communication, create a high level of competitiveness and possibilities for development, since all these resources are fundamental to any enterprise. The present research was based on determining the impact of new information and communication technologies (Tics) on the performance of micro and small retail trade in the city of Loja in 2017, for this an exploratory analysis of the current situation of the city of Loja was applied on issues such as distribution networks for trade, characteristics of the economic sectors of the city, development of microenterprises among other issues. A questionnaire was used to obtain first-hand information from the city’s merchants through a random sampling to establish how access, use and adoption of ICTs influence the creation of competitive advantages.