Qu'est-ce que le e-commerce?

The transformation of an organization’s processes to deliver additional customer value through the application of technologies, philosophies and computing paradigm of the new economy.”

What is e-commerce?

Electronic commerce or e-commerce refers to a wide range of online business activities

for products and services.1 It also pertains to “any form of business transaction in

which the parties interact electronically rather than by physical exchanges or direct

physical contact.”2

E-commerce is usually associated with buying and selling over the Internet, or conducting

any transaction involving the transfer of ownership or rights to use goods or

services through a computer-mediated network.3 Though popular, this definition is

not comprehensive enough to capture recent developments in this new and revolutionary

business phenomenon. A more complete definition is: E-commerce is the

use of electronic communications and digital information processing technology in

business transactions to create, transform, and redefine relationships for value creation

between or among organizations, and between organizations and individuals.

What are the obstacles, problems and issues faced by SMEs in their use of ICT in

business or in engaging in e-commerce?

According to recent surveys conducted in select Southeast Asian countries, the

perceived external barriers to e-commerce include the unfavorable economic environment,

the high cost of ICT, and security concerns. The internal barriers are poor

internal communications infrastructure within SME firms, lack of ICT awareness and

knowledge as well as inadequacy of ICT-capable and literate managers and workers,

insufficient financial resources, and the perceived lack of relevance or value-added of

ICTs to their business.

In general, the main issues of concern that act as barriers to the increased uptake of

information technology and e-commerce are the following:

●Lack of awareness and understanding of the value of e-commerce. Most

SMEs in developing countries have not taken up e-commerce or use the Internet

because they fail to see the value of e-commerce to their businesses. Many think

e-commerce is suited only to big companies and that it is an additional cost that

will not bring any major returns on investment.

●Lack of ICT knowledge and skills. People play a vital role in the development

of e-commerce. However, technology literacy is still very limited in most developing

countries. There is a shortage of skilled workers among SMEs, a key

issue in moving forward with using information technology in business. There

are also doubts about whether SMEs can indeed take advantage of the benefits

of accessing the global market through the Internet, given their limited

capabilities in design, distribution, marketing, and post-sale support. While the

Internet can be useful in accessing international design expertise, SMEs are

not confident that they can command a premium on the prices for their goods

unless they offer product innovations. They can, however, capitalize on returns

on the basis that they are the low cost providers.

Furthermore, more often than not, the premium in design has already been captured-

for example, in the textile products industry-by the branded fashion houses.

SMEs doubt whether Web presence will facilitate their own brand recognition on a

global scale.54

●Financial costs. Cost is a crucial issue. The initial investment for the adoption

of a new technology is proportionately heavier for small than for large firms. The

high cost of computers and Internet access is a barrier to the uptake of e-commerce.

Faced with budgetary constraints, SMEs consider the additional costs of

ICT spending as too big an investment without immediate returns.

Many SMEs find marketing on the Internet expensive. Having a Web site is not

equivalent to having a well-visited Web site. One reason is that there may be

no critical mass of users. Another reason is the challenge of anonymity for

SMEs. Because of the presence of numerous entrepreneurs in the Internet, it

seems that brand recognition matters in order to be competitive. Moreover, it is

not enough that a Web site is informative and user-friendly; it should also be

updated frequently. Search engines must direct queries to the Web site, and

news about the site must be broadly disseminated. Significantly, the experience

of many OECD countries attests to the fact that the best e-marketing

strategies are not better substitutes for the conventional form of media.55 One

solution may be to encourage several SMEs to aggregate their information on

a common Web site, which in turn would have the responsibility of building

recognition/branding

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