E-Commerce

The Need for E-commerce

The need for enterprises to consider adopting e-commerce is primarily driven by global, national and regional business trends. These relate to markets, demographics, costs, new technologies and political factors as follows:

• Adaptation to rapid market changes that are impacting on export-led and domestic markets.
• Cost competition and the need to compete more effectively in both local and export-led sectors.
• Globalisation of the production and supply of goods and services – and the need to integrate small enterprises more effectively into the supply chain of larger businesses.
• Increased customer expectations and consumer power – buyers expecting to be able to access Web-based information about products and services.
• Adaptation to new technologies – an overall need for technological upgrading.
• Greater role for information in business and the needs to access, process and communicate it efficiently and effectively.
• Government deregulation and liberalization – lowering costs of access.
• Bilateral and multilateral trade agreements – opening up markets to developing country producers.
• Adaptation to higher quality standards such as ISO9000 – ICTs are acting as an enabler in this area.
• The ‘me too’ attitude – the lure of the latest technological gizmo or gadget becomes overwhelming.

            It is important that enterprises and agencies like yours that support them understand the specific driving forces for e-commerce in their particular sector. For example, e-commerce in some sectors such as automotive and agricultural or gorticultural products is driven by emergence of B2B E-Marketplaces that use not open Web as their medium but private networks or restricted-access auction sites. In order for enterprises to participate in these marketplaces, it is necessary for them to gain market entry to these supply chains, and to understand how they operate.

            Other sectors driven by global growth, such as financial and business services or travel and tourism, will be reacting more towards global developments. In all cases, it is important yo understand what compels e-commerce to expand on a sector-by-sector basis.