PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to clarify the status of e‐commerce in terms of limitations, problems and barriers facing the application and use of e‐commerce in Jordan.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire approach was employed in this research study to obtain the most appropriate information for identifying the main limitations of e‐commerce in the context of the study. A delivery and collection questionnaire was used as a method for obtaining data from e‐commerce customers contacted through a number of universities.FindingsThere are found to be six main limitations of e‐commerce: security and trust; internet experience; enjoyment; language; legal issues; and technology acceptance (ease of use and usefulness). The results of this research showed that the main limitations of e‐commerce in Jordan appeared to be related to non‐technical limitations. The reason behind this result could be related to the lack of students' awareness of technical issues, in that they might not have known about the technical issues that could face e‐commerce.Research limitations/implicationsThis research provides the foundation for additional research in developing countries related to e‐commerce, the results of which would be internationally useful. Comparison between countries could also be significant. Finally, investigation of the limitations of e‐commerce from a company point of view could be useful because companies are the providers of these services.Originality/valueThe paper summarizes the main limitations of e‐commerce from the Jordanian customer's point of view. In addition, the results of this study extend the body of knowledge by providing a set of limitations that may explain customers' perceptions of e‐commerce benefits and limitations. One finding – the difference in attitudes related to age, gender, internet experience, and income – may be of use to the development of company marketing strategies, for example, in regard to what enjoyment factors might motivate customers to do their shopping online. Managers and designers may find such information useful for predicting which systems will be acceptable to customers, diagnosing reasons why the system may not be fully acceptable to customers, and which corrective actions to take in increasing the acceptability of their systems.

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