Computing (IT)- essay by matthew foote Will the internet keep the U.K competitive in a world market, in terms of industry? Recently there has been emphasis for electronic business. Judging by IBM's recent advertising campaign you would be forgiven for thinking that launching a company website leads to instant profits. IBM 's portrayal of a grandmother taking her olive oil business from rural Greece into global markets neatly demonstrates the potential of the internet for huge exposure and trade without the barriers of geography and at a lower cost. Unlocking this potential for any business in the U.K and elsewhere is no easy matter. Although several large firms in the U.K are now making r ...view middle of the document...
The idea of supplying customers with intangible goods, such as music, computer games/ programmes, software upgrades etc. is becoming increasingly more popular.A telephone poll carried out across Britain based on 4000 calls found that while 39% of internet users have bought clothes by mail, only 13% would be willing to buy clothes on-line and only 2% have actually done so. 70% had never bought anything on-line - many assumptions can be drawn from these statistics i.e. the British don't trust the security aspect or the aspect of depending on delivery without any one to one contact. These connotations of the internet could lead to the U.K being left behind on the business to customer aspect, but there still is possible scope for business to business activity.If you want to accept credit card payments on your site, you have two basic options; the first is to purchase your own, secure web server, which will probably involve employing a technical expert to set up and maintain the system. The second is to use a fulfilment system provided by a third-party - many internet servers offer fulfilment services, processing your transaction for a percentage cut or flat rate, while taking responsibility for the security of customer data. This method is preferred as it reduces pressure on the business and lets them concentrate on fulfilling demand.Overall, it is important to keep the issue of security in prospective. Statistics which I recovered from the internet suggested that the U.S internet market complaints beurau (NCL Internet Fraudwatch) had not received one sing complaint from a customer having their credit card number stolen.CONCLUSION: After accessing different aspects of the internet being able to keep the UK's industry competitive in a world market I sceptically believe that it has been unnecessarily over hyped and that in a few years the supply of internet based companies will liquidise.I believe that large companies may have good reasons for taking advantage of the internet as they are already established and prospective customers can trust the name. This wouldn't benefit the SME's as an unsuccessful website launch good bankrupt the business, as the average input is 20000 pounds to produce a profit its a big risk - but on the other hand profit is the reward for risks being taken. Smaller business's would be left behind as they wouldn't have the capacity to effectiv...
