Irish stand out on e-commerce study

Irish business has a stronger grasp of the benefits e-commerce can bring than its European and US counterparts. According to Andersen Consulting's second e-commerce study, 94 per cent of Irish executives believe e-commerce can transform the way business is done.

This was the most positive response in Europe, and 15 per cent ahead of the US. Irish executives are among the top tier of Europeans who see e-commerce as an immediate threat to their businesses, and understand it should take centre stage in their overall strategy.

The study found Irish executives had a clear understanding of the alliances e-commerce can forge, and the trend towards "virtual corporations" where non-core activities are outsourced.

E-commerce is also firmly on the Irish management agenda, with the Republic second only to Britain in believing senior executives within organisations are committed to e-commerce.

Irish executives are happy with the results of their e-commerce efforts too. Some 69 per cent said they were positive about the results of projects. This was topped only by Sweden with a 70 per cent success rate.

The access e-commerce brings to new geographical markets is also recognised by 63 per cent of Irish business people, well ahead of the EU average of 40 per cent, and 44 per cent in the US.

E-commerce benefits to the buyer as a result of greater choice and better prices have not made any major impact in the Republic with only 54 per cent of respondents acknowledging them. This is most likely because business-to-consumer e-commerce has yet to take off in Europe in the same way it has in the US.

Looking ahead, 91 per cent of Irish executives said they had plans to exploit e-commerce opportunities. This was well ahead of the EU average of 72 per cent, and 82 per cent in the US.

However, 94 per cent of Irish respondents acknowledged they did not have the necessary skills for successful implementation, and over half felt strongly they lacked the necessary organisational culture.

The Andersen report surveyed 350 senior executives in Europe - 30 of them in the Republic - and 60 in the US. While the Nordic countries remain among the most advanced in Europe, the Republic and Britain appear positioned to make considerable advances in the e-commerce area.

According to Mr Seamus Mulconry, manager of strategy practice Andersen Consulting Ireland, there are several reasons why the Republic appears to have an edge in embracing e-commerce: "I think the hype created by the Information Society Commission, IBEC and the Government is working as the e-commerce message spreads to people on the ground. We're also very closely linked to the US in a business culture sense, and observe trends there very closely."

At a European level Andersen predicts within five years companies will be performing as much electronic business as their US counterparts. This is being fuelled by falling Internet access costs and strong European companies implementing workable e-commerce models.

The report predicts European e-commerce activity will also be spurred on by advances in mobile e-commerce, including the introduction of a third generation of high-speed mobile data services from 2002.

Interactive digital television has also been earmarked as a major catalyst for e-commerce growth, along with the widespread adoption of the euro as the unit of e-commerce currency.