E-commerce: Many Obstacles Left to Resolve

A current survey of 400 financial experts by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Mannheim, shows that e-commerce opens considerable opportunities for growth in certain sectors. However, there are still some obstacles slowing this development.

Experts are optimistic about the growth impulses by e-commerce for the financial services sector (like e.g. online banking, electronic securities trading) and the media sector. 86 respectively 78 per cent of the survey participants expect sales increases related to e-commerce in both sectors. In contrast, the prospects for retail are less positive. Only about one third of the experts expect that a further expansion of e-commerce will lead to an increase in revenues. About the half the survey participants forecast that retail sales will not decrease due to e-commerce.

Almost 16 per cent of the experts expect a loss of sales in this sector. The financial experts were also asked to what extent security deficiencies, insufficient network capacity as well as a lack of know-how among providers and clients obstruct further expansion of e-business processes. According to the answers security issues are the main obstacle for a further expansion of e-commerce. More than 60 per cent of the surveyed experts consider this as a serious obstacle. Nearly half of the interviewees is dissatisfied with the network infrastructure and a remarkable percentage of the experts (more than 40 per cent) considers the lack of know-how among providers and clients as a considerable obstacle to expansion.

Contact

Dr. Peter Westerheide, E-mail: westerheide@zew.de