Manufacturers set to invest further in e-commerce

That's key among the findings of a study, recently published by IDC Manufacturing Insights and sponsored by multichannel commerce software vendor hybris. It finds that although 34% of European companies accept orders online, only 4% of total manufacturing turnover is currently generated from B2B eCommerce sales. According to Ariel Lüedi, CEO of hybris Group, getting good e-commerce in place helps manufacturers to face down competition at home and abroad, as well as rising customer expectations and shrinking profit margins – by giving them responsiveness and reliability. IDC Manufacturing agrees and believes that B2B e-commerce spending in Europe will now grow, with more companies opening up this low-cost option to support a multichannel sales model. It also articulates six key benefits of doing so (all taken from its sponsored white paper, entitled 'Key Strategic Challenges in B2B eCommerce', IDC Manufacturing Insights): First, in terms of lowing costs and increasing productivity, more efficient and streamlined online selling and purchasing processes will enable manufacturers to achieve revenue growth, without incremental head count. It will also increase productivity through a reduction in errors and re-focus time spent on repetitive tasks towards more value-added activities. Second, manufactures are more likely to retain existing customers – by delivering an excellent customer experience. Third, they will be better placed to manage product complexity, using a central repository and a consistent approach to product information management (PIM). Fourth, manufacturers will be able to innovate through product-related services: Fifth, they will be able to exploit new markets, without the usual prohibitive costs. And sixth faster time-to-market for new products will automatically improve competitiveness and responsiveness. "For some companies, the ability to offer a product for sale, or to change a product in less time than a competitor, may mean the difference between being able to profitably market a product and missing a valuable sales opportunity," comments Lüedi. "The Internet may have offered an alternative way for manufacturers to do business with each other, but companies that take the time to build a long term B2B strategy will be the ones to emerge from the downturn in the strongest position," he adds.