This thesis aimed to investigate the impact of firm- and industry-specific factors on the decision to adopt Internet technologies among SMEs in New Zealand's retail and tourism industries. A mail survey was sent to 500 retail SMEs and 1,000 tourism SMEs, with response rates of 26.4 percent and 33.4 percent respectively. The results indicated that, in a comparison of perceived benefits, organizational readiness and external pressure, the most important factor in determining the adoption decision was the perceived benefits. Overall, the level of Internet support, business size, international business, and years on the Internet were the most important structural factors in determining Internet technology adoption. When comparing retail and tourism SMEs, the level of Internet support within a firm, business size, and years on the Internet were more important factors for the tourism SMEs than for their retail counterparts. On the other hand, business type and international business were more important factors for retail SMEs than they were for tourism firms. The research also found that tourism SMEs experienced greater pressure from the external environment to adopt Internet technologies than did retail firms.