[eng] The use of electronic commerce in the purchase and/or sales process has generated a change in the Ecuadorian commercial spectrum, virtual stores in large cities have given an encouraging takeoff in the management of this activity. The research objective was to analyze the incidence of ICTs in the development of electronic commerce in the city of Esmeraldas through a prospective study of the sources, to formulate the diagnosis of the problem in question. A quantitative approach was applied since the results of the information collection of the applied questionnaire were processed through statistical procedures, describing the application of electronic commerce in commercial establishments and their consumers. It was determined that the incidence of ICTs and the application of electronic commerce in the city of Esmeraldas is relatively low, due to the fear of being harmed through fraud and the lack of knowledge of carrying out commercial transactions using electronic means of payment. Keywords: Electronic commerce; means of payment; electronic transactions