NI takes advantage of e-commerce

Latest figures have revealed that Northern Ireland businesses are more likely to use the internet for business operations than any other region in the UK.

According to the International Benchmarking Study 2002, which has been published by DTI-led UK online for business, figures show that 63% of businesses in the province have a website.

However while this is below the national average of 80%, Northern Ireland leads the way in linking stock control and ordering systems allowing products to be automatically reordered when they reach a certain level.

Commenting on the figures, Stephen Timms, Minister for E-Commerce, said: “Although Northern Irish businesses are embracing e-business, they still have a long way to go. It’s not just about having a website – businesses must now take the next step and optimise their business processes through best use of information and communication technologies (ICT). By so doing, they have the potential to reap tangible business benefits, from cost and time efficiencies and improved customer and supplier relationships.

“Through UK online for business, the government is working in partnership with Invest Northern Ireland and industry to provide independent and impartial advice to small and medium sized companies in Northern Ireland and across the UK.”

Other key findings for Northern Ireland from the International Benchmarking Study 2002 include:

• 21% of business in the region is trading online
• 21% allows customers to order online, whilst 12% of business allows online payment
• 18% of business has integrated internal systems, an additional 13% is in the process of integrating and a further 31% plans to do so in the near future.

Businesses in Northern Ireland were also asked to state the top three drivers for technology adoption. For a quarter of the respondents, improving costs, efficiency and profit were seen as key drivers and, of these, 84% said that they experienced the expected benefit following implementation.

Wanting to improve customer and supplier communications were also cited as important, beneficial factors.

(MB)