Small local businesses are increasingly expected to participate in the digital marketplace, yet many hesitate due to concerns about trust, security, and the reliability of digital payments. These factors shape how entrepreneurs judge the risks and benefits of selling online. This study explores how trust in digital platforms, perceived security, and payment-system reliability influence e-commerce adoption among small local entrepreneurs. It also examines the mediating role of customer confidence, based on the idea that merchants adopt online channels more readily when they believe customers feel safe and comfortable transacting digitally. The research breaks payment reliability into practical components such as transaction success, settlement speed, and reconciliation effort, and considers how variations in sector, firm size, digital skills, and infrastructure shape adoption behaviour. The findings aim to offer a grounded understanding of what drives or discourages e-commerce participation in local markets and provide evidence to support policy and platform-level improvements.