1、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-Commerce in Spanish SMEsMaterial Source: Market Service, 2010(2) Author: Ines Ramirez NicholasAccording to details from a survey on ICT and e-Commerce usage in business from 2008/09, drawn up by the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE), 11.1% of all companies origin
2、ate sales in 2008 through electronic commerce or other online networks. The sales volume generated was 160.32 billion:13.7% more than the previous year.In the area of e-commerce purchases, 20.3% of all companies acquired some product or service, which represents a 6.4% increase over the same time pe
3、riod.As the size of companies decreases, however, so does the percentage of companies that use electronic commerce. Why the difference? Is the expense of implementing an e-Commerce solution the main reason? What solutions are within their reach? Is the same true in other parts of the world? To get a
4、nswers to these questions, we have spoken with some of the countrys most important e commerce solution providers, and we have made this article based on their impressions and opinions.Reasons for avoiding e-CommerceAlthough the figures for companies in Spain with access to the Internet are among the
5、 highest in Europe and the number of businesses that go online daily is quite high, there is a reluctance to actually use e-Commerce and electronic marketplaces to buy and sell their products and services.Most of the electronic commerce platform creation solution providers interviewed agree that one
6、 of the reasons is a lack of knowledge. Arsys Communications Manager Alberto Calvo says that SMEs and the self-employed often believe that technological innovations are very costly or make daily operations cumbersome. “That may have been true a few years ago,when costly tailored development was requ
7、ired”, says Calvo, “but technology has evolved,and through the online applications currently available, electronic commerce is within the reach of any SME and the resources they would have to commit to maintain their online presence would only require a minimal monthly investment”.Merkasi CEO Antoni
8、o de la Riva says that there is a significant lack of information about the the possibilities of sales growth offered by an Internet presence,especially when a firms traditional distribution network continues to provide good sales levels. But he also points out the inequality between the offers for
9、implementing the applications, “which could make it seem, mistakenly, that they are solutions that require a major investment, when that is not the case”.Lack of knowledge is also one of the reasons given by Xavier Asens from LabTres, which causes “fear in a variety of aspects: fear of the reaction
10、of distributors (wholesalers or retailers), fear of new things.” There is a tendency to overestimate the risks and to underestimate the opportunities.According to Oxatis International Marketing Manager Herv Bourdon, it is also related to the opening times of the traditional shops. He says that hours
11、 are long in Spain and people are used to going to the shops themselves. “In Germany, on the other hand, stores close very early”.Spanish eCommerce, a work in progressBourdon says that Spains position is below that of other European countries, as is the case in France. “The number of online companie
12、s in France was very limited, and we need to start here in Spain the same way we did there: adding value to the creation of web pages and teaching businesses how to sell online”. One of the proposals is to help the public administrations, explainto entrepreneurs how to sell on international pages th
13、rough seminars and training workshops. “That is the method we used in Germany and the results are very good. We know that we all need to move in the same direction”, admits the Oxatis international marketing manager.In other countries, e-Commerce is already a more mature sector and there is greater
14、awareness of the strategic planning required in advance, according to Asens. The problem for Merkasi is that we are starting late. There was little investment in new technologies until just a few years ago, “but we expect the social acceptance of the Internet to lead to a constant growth in investme
15、nts in this area by businesses”, says Antonio de la Riva.The Arsys communications manager also points to the progressive growth of SMEs and businesses in general on the Internet, especially in electronic commerce. “An Internet presence is a business need”, says Alberto Calvo.Selling on the Internet
16、does not require major technical knowledge. There are platforms where you can share your online shop with other businesses for a percentage of the sales,which are not usually that difficult to use. One of the best known examples is eBay where your firms product catalog, prices, etc. are uploaded. Th
17、e down side is that there is greater competition, which does not give you all the flexibility of a customized shop and the business owner needs at least minimal technical knowledge and the ability to dedicate time to the procedures. When selling to other businesses, electronic marketplaces are the b
18、est option. The represent a collection of companies interested in a specific sector, offering a meeting place for exchanging information, conducting business transactions, searching for new suppliers, etc.There is also the option of creating exclusive presence shops, as they are called by AECEM in i
19、ts Electronic Commerce White Paper. They can be developed internally if the business has the technical knowledge and capabilities to create and implement a proprietary e-commerce solution on its on, or they can be ordered from an external technology provider,such as those that have participated in p
20、reparing this report: Oxatis, Arsys, LabTres or Merkasi. These companies offer different types of technology platforms based on the needs of the client. This option provides the benefits of customizing the content specifically for the company and the type of products sold. In many cases, they also o
21、ffer maintenance services, so the business owner does not need in-depth IT knowledge, since the online shop is not managed personally other than on the purely business side.Merkasi, however, warns us that it depends on the volume of activity and the business conducted (such as a website with a high
22、level of online sales). It may be necessary to hire a team of professionals and divide the tasks (someone responsible for updating the online catalog and for marketing and promotions, another person responsible for managing orders,etc.).The cost depends on the degree of difficulty involved in the te
23、chnology solution chosen and on the level of involvement by the company afterwards. However, there are solutions that start at 15 a month and a simple tailor-made virtual shop can be acquired from 1,900.Many benefitsAll immediately agree that one of the main benefits for SMEs is the option of access
24、ing new markets. “With electronic commerce, a SME can broaden its business horizons and make a name for itself beyond its physical location”, the Arsys communications manager says. The people at LabTres also emphasize the idea of internationalization, since e-commerce “makes it possible to break dow
25、n the barriers of space, time and intermediaries”.It also helps to reduce operating costs, contributing “an unbeatable quality-to-price ratio for the investment compared to any other presence through physical establishments”, says Antonio de la Riva. With electronic commerce, SMEs have direct access
26、 to the best commercial offers, and they can also “conduct more effective commercial actions with their distributors, reducing the expenses related to intermediaries and increasing business competitiveness”, Alberto Calvo says.At Oxatis, the main benefits are related especially to the flexibility an
27、d ability to adapt provided to the clients, enabling them to target a very specific market niche and sell very few specific products to that target. “You can also adapt the shop to the consumers quickly.The visual elements can customized based on who enters, offering only the products that may be of
28、 interest to them”, says Herv Bourdon.The fact is, according to Merkasi, that electronic commerce favors the creation of new commercial relations, from new collaborators and suppliers to new employees or shareholders. At the same time, however, it helps to reinforce loyalty among the existing ones.
29、“With an online shop, companies encourage loyalty with current customers and have access to over 1 billion Internet users around the world, making them potential customers”,the people at Arsys add.It is also a powerful marketing tool in its own right, providing greater notoriety and projection of th
30、e corporate image. It is a window that is open to the entire world, and with e-mail or social networks, its potential can be immense.That said, you must always keep in mind how you will be integrating electronic commerce into your current business process. In some cases, the way products are markete
31、d or even how they are designed changes radically. For fully virtual businesses, this is the only sales channel, so the entire company must revolve around the website. It can also become an additional channel that complements the traditional distribution channels that a business already has; both of
32、 them can coexist successfully. The people at Arsys say that thanks to online applications, electronic commerce can be integrated naturally into any business that uses the Internet as a marketing tool, without many implications that modify the business process at any company.Merkasi indicates that i
33、n organizations or companies with branch offices or physical shops,it is a very useful complement for customers. They can focus in advance on what interests them through e-commerce, and of the sale is at the physical shop, they will save the sales department a great deal of time.The future and the challenges we faceThe electro
