World of E-Commerce
E-Commerce today is a shape-shifter whose mission is various and evolving, one moment as small and personal as finding a local restaurant, the next as big and corporate as locating a pasta wholesaler for your chain of noodle shops. Thanks to new technologies and rapidly increasing Web access, e-commerce is beginning to pick up speed.Last year, very few European retailers were taking orders on the Web, but this year has seen phenomenal growth. One reason is simply that more potential consumers are connected to the Web. On-line access almost doubled in Europe this year. Within five years the Euro e-penetration rate will be more than 50 percent.Almost a fifth (18 percent) of companies have launched a product that is only available on the Internet. In addition, nearly three quarters of respondents have, in the last three years, launched a new product or an existing one, using e-commerce technologies.Senior directors with responsibilities for e-commerce in 357 European companies were questioned about their use of e-commerce. The research revealed that the gap between the electronically sophisticated companies and "the rest", identified in last year's report, is now narrowing. In the last 12 mont
They want to buy all types of goods: mountain bikes, books, CDs, software, holidays, tickets, etc. Home shoppingThe consumer has only to switch on the television and he is offered a choice of things to buy. According to researchers, in 2003 the number of European users will reach 100 million. Advantages of e-commerceThe web is a tool which, more than anything else, allows companies to proceed by both constant testing and checking. When choosing between two goods or services, the consumer is really choosing between the values of the two goods. People are changingPeople like to "shop around", and they want to shop when and where they want. Have you ever wanted to go into a shop, but have been deterred because you only wanted to browse, to compare prices or even to kill time - but you knew the shop assistant was waiting, ready to pounce on you with the hard sell. The Internet provides a number of opportunities which may be exploited by those willing to focus, in a systematic way, on what the Internet can allow their particular organization to do. Research has made a forecast about European markets: over the first few years of 2000, e-commerce growth should occur in all sectors; however the main increase will be in four fields: health, with a growth of 546%, consumer goods with a growth of 517%, financial services with a 449% increase, and manufacturing with 371%. The growth rate of Italian users stayed close to zero for almost 15 years and only now is it beginning to show signs of life. In 1998 the number of users was 28 million, double the 1997 number. Dialogue, interaction and service are the keys to building an island within the web. By exploiting these opportunities, an organization may capture the critical mass within an industry, through Internet technology, and in this way be able to deliver three forms of services to customers, namely:· To provide the same level of direct selling service as a salesman through live and on-line interfacing with customers, with details of products and previous purchases, both in transit and delivered;· To establish customer retention and customer loyalty programmes which are personalized/customized interactions to build customer loyalty; and· To provide a new product service and to launch a platform which may be used to introduce valuable new services inexpensively. Nowadays this kind of trading is worth around Lit.
Common topics in this essay:
Third Agers,
Creating Internet,
Cable TV,
Italy Scandinavia,
Limited English,
OPPORTUNITIES SERVICES,
Web On-line,
E-Commerce E-Commerce,
Internet Major,
Internet Italy,
percent respondents,
people world-wide,
web site,
business managers,
year's report,
services customers,
internet transactions,
· little faith,
sales attributable internet,
launched product,
businesses reach customers,
web surfers,
e-business company,
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