Abstract
Digital transformation has drawn great attention in both scholarship and business practice, and there is no agreement on its definition and what it covers. SMEs are usually in a disadvantaged position when it comes to DT. Accelerating DT has become a compulsory factor for many SMEs to achieve high-quality development. Although digital transformation has drawn great attention in recent years, there are still limited studies on digital transformation in SMEs (as a whole phenomenon) and how digitalization may change the entire process of consumer value creation. Therefore, it is profoundly necessary to understand the digital transformation in SMEs. This conceptual paper aims to understand digital transformation and how it creates value for SMEs, the barriers and challenges of DT in SMEs, the factors affecting the success of DT in SMEs, and provide recommendations on what SMEs should do in terms of digital transformation.