E-Commerce and E-Business/E-Commerce in Developing Countries
E-Commerce and E-Business/E-Commerce in Developing Countries
E-Commerce and E-Business/E-Commerce in Developing Countries
Contents
1How important is e-commerce to SMEs in developing countries? How big is the SME e-business
market?
2Is e-commerce helpful to the women sector? How has it helped in empowering women?
3What is the role of government in the development of e-commerce in developing countries?
Financial costs. Cost is a crucial issue. The initial investment for the
adoption of a new technology is proportionately heavier for small than
for large firms. The high cost of computers and Internet access is a
barrier to the uptake of e-commerce. Faced with budgetary constraints,
SMEs consider the additional costs of ICT spending as too big an
investment without immediate returns.
Many SMEs find marketing on the Internet expensive. Having a Web
site is not equivalent to having a well-visited Web site. One reason is
that there may be no critical mass of users. Another reason is the
challenge of anonymity for SMEs. Because of the presence of
numerous entrepreneurs in the Internet, it seems that brand
recognition matters in order to be competitive. Moreover, it is not
enough that a Web site is informative and user-friendly; it should also
be updated frequently. Search engines must direct queries to the
Web site, and news about the site must be broadly disseminated.
Significantly, the experience of many OECD countries attests to the
fact that the best e-marketing strategies are not better substitutes for
the conventional form of media.55 One solution may be to encourage
several SMEs to aggregate their information on a common Web site,
which in turn would have the responsibility of building
recognition/branding by hyperlinking or updating, for example.
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/E-Commerce_and_E-Business/E-Commerce_in_Developing_Countries
no 4
Contents
Increase sales - this is the first thing that people consider when dealing with e-commerce
o Decreasing costs
o Increase profits
Understanding that profits is not the same as sales
o Expands the size of the market from regional to national or national to international
o Contract the market
o Reach a narrow market
Target market segmentation allows you to focus on a more
Select group of customers
And therefore have a competitive advantages in satisfying them
Cash on delivery. Many online transactions only involve submitting purchase orders online.
Payment is by cash upon the delivery of the physical goods.
Bank payments. After ordering goods online, payment is made by depositing cash into the
bank account of the company from which the goods were ordered. Delivery is likewise done
the conventional way.
B. Electronic Payment Methods
Innovations affecting consumers, include credit and debit cards, automated teller machines
(ATMs), stored value cards, and e-banking.
Innovations enabling online commerce are e-cash, e-checks, smart cards, and encrypted
credit cards. These payment methods are not too popular in developing countries. They are
employed by a few large companies in specific secured channels on a transaction basis.
Innovations affecting companies pertain to payment mechanisms that banks provide their
clients, including inter-bank transfers through automated clearing houses allowing payment
by direct deposit.
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/E-Commerce_and_E-Business/E-
Commerce_Applications:_Issues_and_Prospects