e term SMEs is an acronym that refers to small and medium size enterprises. Statistics Canada (2019) defines SMEs as businesses with less than 500 employees. Their most report estimates that medium size enterprises only represent 2.1% of businesses in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2019). Small size enterprises are frequently considered the economic engine of Canada as they represent 97.9% of all businesses in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2019). These enterprises have fewer than 100 employees and employ approximately 69.7% of private sector employees (Statistics Canada, 2019). This paper will focus on both small and medium size enterprises. However due to the economic importance of small size enterprises in Canada, this paper will give more consideration to small enterprises in the analysis section of the paper.

The term web experience refers to the overall experience a user has on a website. In the context of e-commerce it refers to the experience consumers have when shopping for a product on a website (Sicilia, Ruiz, & Munuera, 2005). These activities may include searching for products or product information, interacting with the merchant or products and making purchases online (Sicilia, Ruiz, & Munuera, 2005). In the context of Marketing, the corporate website has long been considered the primary medium for delivering a web experience to retail consumers (Constantinides, 2002). Research in the field of Marketing has traditionally looked at web experience as a complex mix of web design elements on websites with the persuasive power to influence consumer behaviour (Kotler, 2003). These web design elements may be related to the functionality, structural layout, visual styling, or the contents of the website (Constantinides, 2004).

There is a large body of research that shows web design elements can be an enabler of e-commerce transactions. Recent studies have shown that these elements can influence attitudes (Hassan, 2016), perceptions (Cyr et al., 2018), purchase decisions (Shaouf, Lü, & Li, 2016), and purchase intention (Pee, Jiang & Klein, 2018). A poorly designed website can frustrate users, and can result in a high bounce rate as consumer abandon the website upon entry (Garett et al., 2016). A poor website experience can also negatively influence perceptions contributing to consumers switching brands when making purchases online and in-store (Constantinides, 2004). Therefore it is important for SMEs to have an understanding of web design best practices in order to build a successful e-commerce website.

Web design can also play a crucial role in the customer experience. The term customer experience refers to the internal or subjective response a customer has when interacting with a company websit