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Large Enterprises Stick With E-Com …
Although many independent e-marketplaces are struggling to survive, large global enterprises have not given up on business-to-business e-commerce, according to a recent report by research company eMarketer Inc.
The New York-based company predicted that B2B e-commerce transactions worldwide will reach $2.7 trillion by 2004. The bulk of those transactions are still represented by direct electronic purchases from supplier Web sites rather than through public exchanges or e-marketplaces. And most—71 percent, by eMarketers estimates—are centered in North America.
B2B activity outside North America will, however, increase rapidly, the report said.
… But Others Take Traditional Routes
But where large global enterprises tread, the bulk of companies are loath to follow. Recent research from the Computing Technology Industry Associations E-Commerce Standards Board found that nearly half of all businesses eschew e-commerce and instead use traditional methods—including hard copies, floppy disks and faxes—to communicate with customers and suppliers.
Research from the Lombard, Ill., nonprofit trade association also found that fewer than half of 185 U.S. and European companies surveyed are using Extensible Markup Language and that only 20 percent participate in trading communities, but an additional 23 percent expect to participate in online trading within the next year.