Many companies trade directly with consumers - this is the business-to-consumer ("B2C") side of trading which has been covered extensively in the press.  But the majority of business (92% by value in the UK) is conducted between companies.  This business-to-business ("B2B") sector has quite different requirements - see the checklist below.  Both mobile e-commerce and interactive TV-based solutions are also now emerging.

The full scope is illustrated in the diagram below.

Checklist

While the first concern for many people is just the design of the company web site, here are just some of the many complex issues for management to consider when updating to "e-business":

• Who is responsible for deciding what the web site will do?
• Who will design it and who will approve it?
• What do you have to do to ensure your site is legal?
• Who will maintain it and keep it up to date?  An out of date web site implies that no-one is in charge.
• How do you ensure your site works all the time?  Could large numbers of customers overload it?
• How will your customers find your site?  Will it be a good experience for them, or so slow they give up?
• How will you track the visits of your customers?
• How will you display an up to date electronic catalogue of your products on your web site?
• Can discounts be offered to your account customers?
• How will you link your web site into your stock and delivery system, preventing orders being taken for items no longer available?
• How will payments be organised, for both credit card retail purchases and for business customers with accounts?
• Could anyone break into your site?  Is customer and financial data safe?
• Does your site have a Digital Signature to show it is genuine?
• How do you check a customer's Digital Signature?
• How does your web site fit into existing business processes and systems?  How can it help improve your supply chain?

What's coming next?

The "simple" internet trading model has just got more complex with the arrival of mobile or "m-commerce".  The immediacy of trading via a mobile device offers a huge range of opportunities for those companies that can see how to exploit it.  Whilst at the moment this relies on relatively simple "WAP-enabled" mobile phones, new technologies are arriving every year.  An early start on m-commerce is essential.

Faster delivery of the Internet over ordinary phone lines will soon be possible with ADSL - the "always on" internet.  How will consumers and companies maximise the benefits this will offer?

Interactive digital TV is also now emerging and for many consumers this will be the access device of choice.  It will allow full multi-media presentations, including movies played according to viewers' preferences.

These multiple access options mean that businesses will have to plan their web site content for use with more than one distribution medium, to avoid having to continually adapt pages from one to the others.

For an evaluation of how these changes will affect you, contact Entrelevel.