The results of surveys conducted in the US, Europe and Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) regions in the past year indicate that small to medium enterprises (SMEs) are at long last warming to the Internet. They rely on it for faster access to information and promotion of their products and services, and, to some extent, are seriously considering the option of e-business.
According to results from the Industrial Data`s 1999 US Small Business Survey, more than 52% of small businesses were accessing the Internet in 1999, and that number would climb to over 70% by 2003. Once confined by geographical constraints, small businesses are now leveraging the Internet to expand beyond local boundaries.
The study found that, in addition to accessing the wealth of information the Web has to offer, a number of small businesses were recognising the benefit of promoting themselves via the Web. In 1999, 2.1 million US small businesses had a home page or Web site. That number is expected to increase by 30% to 2.7 million this year.
A report from The Phillips Group found that European SMEs had embraced Internet applications, such as video conferencing and voice/data integration to aid the growth of their business. Only 2% of SMEs in the region did not have Internet access, and only 15% were connected at slower than ISDN speed.
A key finding in the US market was that the growth in the number of new SMEs online was evident across all company size categories - even the smallest of firms were stepping up to the Internet opportunity.
However, the majority of SMEs still access the Internet through a single PC shared by all users. This sets the stage for local area network growth, especially as small firms seek the benefits of high-speed broadband Internet access.
The report says that it is at this point that e-business presents the most significant growth opportunity for a wide range of US SMEs, and predicts that nearly half of online small businesses will be selling over the Internet by 2003.
European counterparts, however, appear to be ill prepared for e-business. The Phillips Group reveals that only 12 % of SMEs polled in Europe have developed and implemented an e-business strategy and 40 % have no such strategy.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, in its survey examining the adoption, uptake and use of e-commerce by SMEs in 21 Apec member economies, said SMEs were key to economic growth in Apec economies, accounting for nearly 50% of total gross domestic product and 35% of exports.
In addition, the study indicated several key factors critical to propagating e-commerce use by SMEs: expanding markets by building relationships through improved customer service and information exchange; raising the level of trust and confidence in e-commerce among businesses and consumers; improving supply chain integration to reduce input costs; and accessing information about suitable business models and technologies for e-commerce.
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