Why an increased number of customers prefer to order through E-commerce
Many experts predict that E-commerce will play a predominant role in the future because
E-commerce lowers communication costs and costs towards coordinating activities. This
structure will be the dominant form of business interaction in the future because it reduces
communication costs and enables companies to be more competitive in a highly competitive environment.
In 2004 the number of our E-commerce customers increased by approximately 200%, up from a very moderate
number a year earlier. Parlock, a Danish company, and Asarum, a Swedish company, were some of the customers
who started to place their orders through E-commerce in 2004. Jim Hansen, purchaser at Parlock, and Per
Svensson, purchaser at Asarum, participated in a survey that focused on user experience in ordering online.
The new way to do business
Discussing the Internet in general, Mr. Hansen and Mr. Svensson agreed that E-commerce is the
future way to trade. Mr. Hansen commented: “We don’t trade with other suppliers on the Internet
because it’s not possible. However, I think that it’s much more flexible and timesaving to order
on the Internet because you can do it when you have the time.” Mr. Svensson continued: “ We don’t
trade with other suppliers either, but we’ll do so in the near future. Normally, we fax our orders,
which I find very time-consuming. The Internet seems much more reliable and faster.”
E-commerce eases your work
On the impact of E-commerce, Mr. Hansen stated: “I think that E-commerce will ease my work in the future.
Among other things, I won’t have to fax or call as often as I do now.” Mr. Svensson continued: “At the moment
I have to make a print-out of the order due to the complexity of our own system. If the two systems could be
linked, then it would ease my work a lot.”
E-commerce will dominate in the future
The result of our survey is that our customers use E-commerce because it is more efficient and saves
time and money. Due to E-commerce they use less resources on communication and coordinating activities.
Therefore, we predict that E-commerce will play a more dominant role in the future.
