西班牙中小企业电子商务发展现状外文翻译.docx

西班牙中小企业电子商务发展现状外文翻译.docx

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西班牙中小企业电子商务发展现状外文翻译

外文翻译

原文

E-CommerceinSpanishSMEs

MaterialSource:

MarketService,2010

（2）Author:

InesRamirezNicholas

AccordingtodetailsfromasurveyonICTande-Commerceusageinbusinessfrom2008/09,drawnupbytheSpanishNationalStatisticsInstitute（INE）,11.1%ofallcompaniesoriginatesalesin2008throughelectroniccommerceorotheronlinenetworks.Thesalesvolumegeneratedwas€160.32billion:

13.7%morethanthepreviousyear.Intheareaofe-commercepurchases,20.3%ofallcompaniesacquiredsomeproductorservice,whichrepresentsa6.4%increaseoverthesametimeperiod.

Asthesizeofcompaniesdecreases,however,sodoesthepercentageofcompaniesthatuseelectroniccommerce.Whythedifference?

Istheexpenseofimplementingane-Commercesolutionthemainreason?

Whatsolutionsarewithintheirreach?

Isthesametrueinotherpartsoftheworld?

Togetanswerstothesequestions,wehavespokenwithsomeofthecountry’smostimportantecommercesolutionproviders,andwehavemadethisarticlebasedontheirimpressionsandopinions.

Reasonsforavoidinge-Commerce

AlthoughthefiguresforcompaniesinSpainwithaccesstotheInternetareamongthehighestinEuropeandthenumberofbusinessesthatgoonlinedailyisquitehigh,thereisareluctancetoactuallyusee-Commerceandelectronicmarketplacestobuyandselltheirproductsandservices.

Mostoftheelectroniccommerceplatformcreationsolutionprovidersinterviewedagreethatoneofthereasonsisalackofknowledge.ArsysCommunicationsManagerAlbertoCalvosaysthatSMEsandtheself-employedoftenbelievethattechnologicalinnovationsareverycostlyormakedailyoperationscumbersome.“Thatmayhavebeentrueafewyearsago,whencostlytailoreddevelopmentwasrequired”,saysCalvo,“buttechnologyhasevolved,andthroughtheonlineapplicationscurrentlyavailable,electroniccommerceiswithinthereachofanySMEandtheresourcestheywouldhavetocommittomaintaintheironlinepresencewouldonlyrequireaminimalmonthlyinvestment”.

MerkasiCEOAntoniodelaRivasaysthatthereisasignificantlackofinformationaboutthethepossibilitiesofsalesgrowthofferedbyanInternetpresence,especiallywhenafirm’straditionaldistributionnetworkcontinuestoprovidegoodsaleslevels.Buthealsopointsouttheinequalitybetweentheoffersforimplementingtheapplications,“whichcouldmakeitseem,mistakenly,thattheyaresolutionsthatrequireamajorinvestment,whenthatisnotthecase”.

LackofknowledgeisalsooneofthereasonsgivenbyXavierAsensfromLabTres,whichcauses“fearinavarietyofaspects:

fearofthereactionofdistributors（wholesalersorretailers）,fearofnewthings...”Thereisatendencytooverestimatetherisksandtounderestimatetheopportunities.

AccordingtoOxatisInternationalMarketingManagerHervéBourdon,itisalsorelatedtotheopeningtimesofthetraditionalshops.HesaysthathoursarelonginSpainandpeopleareusedtogoingtotheshopsthemselves.“InGermany,ontheotherhand,storescloseveryearly”.

SpanisheCommerce,aworkinprogress

BourdonsaysthatSpain’spositionisbelowthatofotherEuropeancountries,asisthecaseinFrance.“ThenumberofonlinecompaniesinFrancewasverylimited,andweneedtostarthereinSpainthesamewaywedidthere:

addingvaluetothecreationofwebpagesandteachingbusinesseshowtosellonline”.Oneoftheproposalsistohelpthepublicadministrations,explaintoentrepreneurshowtoselloninternationalpagesthroughseminarsandtrainingworkshops.“ThatisthemethodweusedinGermanyandtheresultsareverygood.Weknowthatweallneedtomoveinthesamedirection”,admitstheOxatisinternationalmarketingmanager.

Inothercountries,e-Commerceisalreadyamorematuresectorandthereisgreaterawarenessofthestrategicplanningrequiredinadvance,accordingtoAsens.TheproblemforMerkasiisthatwearestartinglate.Therewaslittleinvestmentinnewtechnologiesuntiljustafewyearsago,“butweexpectthesocialacceptanceoftheInternettoleadtoaconstantgrowthininvestmentsinthisareabybusinesses”,saysAntoniodelaRiva.

TheArsyscommunicationsmanageralsopointstotheprogressivegrowthofSMEsandbusinessesingeneralontheInternet,especiallyinelectroniccommerce.“AnInternetpresenceisabusinessneed”,saysAlbertoCalvo.

SellingontheInternetdoesnotrequiremajortechnicalknowledge.Thereareplatformswhereyoucanshareyouronlineshopwithotherbusinessesforapercentageofthesales,whicharenotusuallythatdifficulttouse.OneofthebestknownexamplesiseBaywhereyourfirm’sproductcatalog,prices,etc.areuploaded.Thedownsideisthatthereisgreatercompetition,whichdoesnotgiveyoualltheflexibilityofacustomizedshopandthebusinessownerneedsatleastminimaltechnicalknowledgeandtheabilitytodedicatetimetotheprocedures.Whensellingtootherbusinesses,electronicmarketplacesarethebestoption.Therepresentacollectionofcompaniesinterestedinaspecificsector,offeringameetingplaceforexchanginginformation,conductingbusinesstransactions,searchingfornewsuppliers,etc.

Thereisalsotheoptionofcreatingexclusivepresenceshops,astheyarecalledbyAECEMinitsElectronicCommerceWhitePaper.Theycanbedevelopedinternallyifthebusinesshasthetechnicalknowledgeandcapabilitiestocreateandimplementaproprietarye-commercesolutiononitson,ortheycanbeorderedfromanexternaltechnologyprovider,suchasthosethathaveparticipatedinpreparingthisreport:

Oxatis,Arsys,LabTresorMerkasi.Thesecompaniesofferdifferenttypesoftechnologyplatformsbasedontheneedsoftheclient.Thisoptionprovidesthebenefitsofcustomizingthecontentspecificallyforthecompanyandthetypeofproductssold.Inmanycases,theyalsooffermaintenanceservices,sothebusinessownerdoesnotneedin-depthITknowledge,sincetheonlineshopisnotmanagedpersonallyotherthanonthepurelybusinessside.

Merkasi,however,warnsusthatitdependsonthevolumeofactivityandthebusinessconducted（suchasawebsitewithahighlevelofonlinesales）.Itmaybenecessarytohireateamofprofessionalsanddividethetasks（someoneresponsibleforupdatingtheonlinecatalogandformarketingandpromotions,anotherpersonresponsibleformanagingorders,etc.）.

Thecostdependsonthedegreeofdifficultyinvolvedinthetechnologysolutionchosenandonthelevelofinvolvementbythecompanyafterwards.However,therearesolutionsthatstartat€15amonthandasimpletailor-madevirtualshopcanbeacquiredfrom€1,900.

Manybenefits

AllimmediatelyagreethatoneofthemainbenefitsforSMEsistheoptionofaccessingnewmarkets.“Withelectroniccommerce,aSMEcanbroadenitsbusinesshorizonsandmakeanameforitselfbeyonditsphysicallocation”,theArsyscommunicationsmanagersays.ThepeopleatLabTresalsoemphasizetheideaofinternationalization,sincee-commerce“makesitpossibletobreakdownthebarriersofspace,timeandintermediaries”.

Italsohelpstoreduceoperatingcosts,contributing“anunbeatablequality-to-priceratiofortheinvestmentcomparedtoanyotherpresencethroughphysicalestablishments”,saysAntoniodelaRiva.Withelectroniccommerce,SMEshavedirectaccesstothebestcommercialoffers,andtheycanalso“conductmoreeffectivecommercialactionswiththeirdistributors,reducingtheexpensesrelatedtointermediariesandincreasingbusinesscompetitiveness”,AlbertoCalvosays.

AtOxatis,themainbenefitsarerelatedespeciallytotheflexibilityandabilitytoadaptprovidedtotheclients,enablingthemtotargetaveryspecificmarketnicheandsellveryfewspecificproductstothattarget.“Youcanalsoadapttheshoptotheconsumersquickly.Thevisualelementscancustomizedbasedonwhoenters,offeringonlytheproductsthatmaybeofinteresttothem…”,saysHervéBourdon.

Thefactis,accordingtoMerkasi,thatelectroniccommercefavorsthecreationofnewcommercialrelations,fromnewcollaboratorsandsupplierstonewemployeesorshareholders.Atthesametime,however,ithelpstoreinforceloyaltyamongtheexistingones.“Withanonlineshop,companiesencourageloyaltywithcurrentcustomersandhaveaccesstoover1billionInternetusersaroundtheworld,makingthempotentialcustomers”,thepeopleatArsysadd.

Itisalsoapowerfulmarketingtoolinitsownright,providinggreaternotorietyandprojectionofthecorporateimage.Itisawindowthatisopentotheentireworld,andwithe-mailorsocialnetworks,itspotentialcanbeimmense.

Thatsaid,youmustalwayskeepinmindhowyouwillbeintegratingelectroniccommerceintoyourcurrentbusinessprocess.Insomecases,thewayproductsaremarketedorevenhowtheyaredesignedchangesradically.Forfullyvirtualbusinesses,thisistheonlysaleschannel,sotheentirecompanymustrevolvearoundthewebsite.Itcanalsobecomeanadditionalchannelthatcomplementsthetraditionaldistributionchannelsthatabusinessalreadyhas;bothofthemcancoexistsuccessfully.ThepeopleatArsyssaythatthankstoonlineapplications,electroniccommercecanbeintegratednaturallyintoanybusinessthatusestheInternetasamarketingtool,withoutmanyimplicationsthatmodifythebusinessprocessatanycompany.

Merkasiindicatesthatinorganizationsorcompanieswithbranchofficesorphysicalshops,itisaveryusefulcomplementforcustomers.Theycanfocusinadvanceonwhatintereststhemthroughe-commerce,andofthesaleisatthephysicalshop,theywillsavethesalesdepartmentagreatdealoftime.

Thefutureandthechallengesweface

Theelectro