Many large corporates in SA already require all their business partners - large and small - to be e-commerce enabled.
They want to eliminate the expense of capturing hand-written purchase orders and invoices. In fact, they are starting to demand that sales and purchase order documentation are delivered in a format which can be automatically imported into their accounting software applications for more efficient processing.
Although SMEs have been slow to participate in the e-commerce wave sweeping the country, they can benefit significantly from it.
Steve Cohen, guest columnist, ITWeb
This means companies without systems that facilitate data interchange between different accounting packages could find themselves unable to transact with their existing business partners and will miss out extensively on major opportunities.
However, an estimated 25% of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in SA are not computerised and still utilise manual accounting systems to manage their businesses.
They must computerise to remain competitive.
But SMEs are hesitant to get involved in online business due to the fact that they haven`t had the opportunity to fully understand the benefits of e-commerce. Furthermore, few - particularly those still utilising manual systems - have access to the skills and expertise required to take advantage of e-commerce.
In addition, several SMEs don`t see the benefit of setting up and maintaining a Web site because they don`t usually trade with the general public and perceive e-commerce only as a business-to-consumer undertaking. However, although business-to-consumer e-commerce is presently widely publicised, it is the business-to-business (B2B) model that is set to grow dramatically in the near future.
Seamless integration
Setting up a storefront on the Internet is only one aspect of e-commerce.
Regardless of who one`s target market is - and particularly in the B2B environment - in order to ensure true business efficiencies and benefit from the 24-hour marketplace of e-commerce, the front-office Web site (storefront) has to seamlessly integrate with the company`s back-office accounting system.
Full integration with a back-office accounting system translates into time and cost savings for the business.
Among other benefits, it can ensure that when customers access a price list on the site, the system is geared to automatically check each customer`s credit limit, the discount structures that they benefit from and determine the payment terms to which they are entitled.
Seamless integration also ensures improved inventory tracking/management; it allows you to automatically trigger orders to suppliers and have access to all the latest updates in your system - 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week.
Similarly, when the customer places a purchase order on the site, it should be automatically imported into the company`s order processing system, stock control system and even delivery system, saving the time and costs associated with re-inputting the data.
The automation of these processes improves customer service as it ultimately frees up the business and its employees to be more creative and innovative.
In addition, the Internet gives companies of all sizes the ability to automate a collection of valuable customer data that can help them better understand their business and the requirements of their target market.
Although SMEs have been slow to participate in the e-commerce wave sweeping the country, they can benefit significantly from it. The Internet levels the playing fields, creating a world where success is more about speed, agility and being first to market than it is about size and capital.
This is good news for SMEs, since they are often more receptive and less confined by legacy systems and bureaucracy than their larger competitors and will often be able to secure a sustainable competitive advantage with top-class Internet developments than their larger counterparts.
The Internet removes the traditional boundaries of space and time, giving even the smallest companies the ability to reach a global customer-base with a shopfront that is open 24-hours-a-day.
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