Business to Business Online Goes Off the Charts
| Category: Online Promotion | Date: 2001-03-08 |
Business to Business Online Goes Off the Charts
The Gartner Group states that business to business e-commerce will grow aggressively through the year 2004, from $145 billion to $7.29 trillion, or approximately 7 percent of the forecasted $105 trillion total global sales transactions. According to a Gartner analyst, investment financing and IT spending, among other factors, will fuel the growth.
Approximately one-third of small businesses in the US are now online, according to a recent study commissioned by Prodigy Biz Corp., a subsidiary of Prodigy Communications Corporation. Additionally, 40 percent of small businesses without websites (approximately 2.1 million) are expected to be on the Internet within an average of the next eight months.
Another study, which was carried out by International Communications Research, found that 90 percent of small businesses in the US anticipate benefiting from the Internet. However, 66 percent do not believe that the Web offers significant growth opportunities because they are local businesses. Primary uses of the Internet cited by respondents were: promoting to prospects (69%), ecommerce (57%), providing better customer service (48%), competing with other businesses (46%) and communicating with employees (11%).
Among those surveyed, 25 percent of companies with fewer than 10 employees have an Internet presence, versus 50 percent of those with 10 or more employees.
Over 40 percent of small business owners claim that they do not have the staff or the time to maintain a website. However, nearly 75 percent say that cost is not a barrier.
Business-to-business marketing is not simple; it is complex. The audience is not as forgiving as in the consumer marketplace, but small businesses might be shortsighted in their perception of the web. More so now than any other time and any other medium, the web allows small business to compete with the big ones. Most successful Internet business models are niche-focused, and that is just where small businesses should concentrate. The ability to adapt quickly and provide higher service levels is their competitive advantage. The web is a lower cost technology-enabling medium to market to and service customers more effectively.
About the author
DBMarkets@aol.com
http://www.msdbm.com
The Gartner Group states that business to business e-commerce will grow aggressively through the year 2004, from $145 billion to $7.29 trillion, or approximately 7 percent of the forecasted $105 trillion total global sales transactions. According to a Gartner analyst, investment financing and IT spending, among other factors, will fuel the growth.
Approximately one-third of small businesses in the US are now online, according to a recent study commissioned by Prodigy Biz Corp., a subsidiary of Prodigy Communications Corporation. Additionally, 40 percent of small businesses without websites (approximately 2.1 million) are expected to be on the Internet within an average of the next eight months.
Another study, which was carried out by International Communications Research, found that 90 percent of small businesses in the US anticipate benefiting from the Internet. However, 66 percent do not believe that the Web offers significant growth opportunities because they are local businesses. Primary uses of the Internet cited by respondents were: promoting to prospects (69%), ecommerce (57%), providing better customer service (48%), competing with other businesses (46%) and communicating with employees (11%).
Among those surveyed, 25 percent of companies with fewer than 10 employees have an Internet presence, versus 50 percent of those with 10 or more employees.
Over 40 percent of small business owners claim that they do not have the staff or the time to maintain a website. However, nearly 75 percent say that cost is not a barrier.
Business-to-business marketing is not simple; it is complex. The audience is not as forgiving as in the consumer marketplace, but small businesses might be shortsighted in their perception of the web. More so now than any other time and any other medium, the web allows small business to compete with the big ones. Most successful Internet business models are niche-focused, and that is just where small businesses should concentrate. The ability to adapt quickly and provide higher service levels is their competitive advantage. The web is a lower cost technology-enabling medium to market to and service customers more effectively.
About the author
DBMarkets@aol.com
http://www.msdbm.com
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