The Online AdventurerExploring The Online World

E-Business For Small Business

Basic Definitions

E-Commerce is “the online exchange of goods and services for payment.”

E-Business is “the employment of electronic medium to conduct business activities.”

B2B vs. B2C

B2B e-commerce accounts for 75% or $27.2 Billion of online sales in Canada.

B2C e-commerce accounts for just 25% or $9.1 Billion.

E-Business For Small BusinessSome Critical Stats

Online sales grew by 38% between 2004 and 2005.Since 2001 online sales have increased by nearly 500%!Growth in the public sector has been even faster (53% and 1,350% resp.)!Large firms account for 62% of online sales.In 2005, only about 38% of firms even had a website.For large firms, the percentage with web presence is over 80%.

E-Business For Small BusinessTrouble Spots On The Horizon

How many Huron businesses have websites?A third of online purchases are not from Canadian websites.Proportion of domestic is increasing.U.S. firms vs. Canadian firms.E-business offers competitive advantages but small firms lag.One third of all ‘Internet shoppers’ just browse.Learning curve of large firms is over!

E-Business For Small BusinessGoing Beyond E-Commerce

Inventory Management

•Supply chain.

•Procurement.

•Order tracking.

•Required by some large firms.

•Issues? Cost, Implementation.

Customer Relationship Management

•Contact information.

•Frequency of purchases.

•History of purchases.

•Issues? Implementation, Maintenance.

E-Business For Small BusinessGoing Beyond E-Commerce

Marketing Strategies

•Reinforce brand.

•Complement other efforts.

•Direct mail.

•Customer service – pre and post care.

•Issues? Privacy, Strategy, Perceived Cost.

Market Research

•Competitive Intelligence.

•Blogs & Podcasts.

•E-Newsletters.

•Rich Site Summaries (RSS).

•Issues? Time, Time & Time!

E-Business For Small BusinessReal & Perceived Barriers

Been there done that!Cost of implementation.Cost to maintain.Lack of knowledge or misinformed.Security concerns.Prefer current business model.Internet perceived as irrelevant.Customers not ready.Lack of in-house skill-set.Suppliers not ready.Not convinced of the benefits!

See You On The Next Adventure!