Operationalizing a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) framework to process data gathered from an adapted diagnostic toolkit entitled “Women-Owned Businesses in Cross-border E-commerce: a Diagnostic Toolkit,” this study reveals that regional and national policy landscapes have put utmost interest in promoting and fostering an enabling environment for women-led micro, small, and medium enterprises and digitalization. However, there are gaps in public-private sector coordination, access to enabling and support programs such as financing and capacity building, awareness due to informality, and scaling-up and sustainability of their e-commerce businesses. Moreover, the results also show that the cross-border e-commerce environment is promising from the point of view of (a) networks, representation, and visibility and (b) digital literacy, e-payments, e-commerce, and digital trade regulations. However, there are areas for improvement, such as in (a) digital literacy, e-payments, and e-commerce and digital trade regulations; (b) discrimination on online platforms; (c) trade facilitation agreement; and (d) logistics and customs duties. Given the diagnostic toolkit and SWOT results, the authors identified key practical policy recommendations for consideration.
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