Cloud POS Adoption Among Saudi Restaurant SMEs: A Structured Literature Review of Drivers and Barriers

Cloud point-of-sale (POS) systems are replacing local and standalone systems in restaurants, but research on why small restaurants adopt them, and what holds them back, is scattered across general studies of cloud computing in SMEs. This structured literature review synthesises studies of cloud and restaurant technology adoption, with a focus on Saudi Arabia, and codes their reported factors using the Technology–Organisation–Environment (TOE) framework, supported by Diffusion of Innovations and UTAUT. The most consistent drivers are relative advantage, compatibility with payments and other systems, owner support and vendor support. The main barriers are security and data concerns, limited IT skills, dependence on connectivity, and cost and switching effort. For restaurants, offline resilience and staff turnover add operational barriers not prominent in other SME settings. The review identifies a Saudi-specific environmental driver absent from most of the literature: ZATCA's e-invoicing integration phase, which since January 2023 has been extended in waves down to businesses with VAT-subject revenue above SAR 187,500, making a connected invoicing system a compliance requirement for most VAT-registered restaurants. Combined with electronic payments reaching 85% of retail transactions in 2025, this regulation may be doing the work that competitive pressure does elsewhere. The paper proposes an integrative framework and five testable propositions, and sets out an agenda for survey, longitudinal and comparative research on cloud POS adoption among Saudi restaurant SMEs.