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e-commerce shows signs of maturity

The collapse of dotcom mania has done little to slow the exponential growth of ecommerce in the UK and its development into a mature business opportunity. Online sales increased by 42 per cent to o17bn in 2001, according to the latest government figures released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) last week.

And half-yearly financial results from Tesco's online delivery arm Tesco.com show 27 per cent growth to profitable sales of o186m. The ONS survey reinforces the message that the internet is a key business tool despite the doom and gloom surrounding the IT industry, says Liz Grant, director of advisory body UK Online for Business.

'Sales of o17bn worth of products and services is considerable chunk of business,' she said.

'A major challenge going forward is to help companies understand what technology is available, in the context of a clear business case.

'A few years ago everyone thought a website would triple your sales overnight and now business is looking to use technology to cut costs and improve productivity - it's a different message.' Integration of the internet with existing systems offers the biggest benefits, said Confederation of British Industry head of ebusiness Jeremy Beale. 'The focus is changing from websites to integration issues, and that's where the momentum will increasingly be. 'It's not just about hooking up - which is what a lot of the dotcom mania was about - but about squeezing out economies by developing integration,' he said. Despite economic uncertainty, business is still willing to invest in projects offering a strong return, says Charles Ward, director of marketing and services at supplier body Intellect.

'Whilst overall it is a tough time in the high-tech sector, people will still spend money to save money. 'The online sales figures show companies are picking up on the opportunity for streamlining and increasing efficiency, and that is driving the adoption of ebusiness.' Broadband will be crucial, says Institute of Directors' director of emarketing Jonathan Cummings.

'It's an enormous year-on-year growth but its still a small percentage of overall sales.

'Broadband will have a huge impact and hopefully we will see even faster growth rates over the next year or two,' he said. David Roberts, chief executive of blue chip user group The Corporate IT Forum, agrees that high-speed communications will provide a further boost to online sales.

'If growth is at almost 50 per cent without much effort on broadband then think what it could do with broadband,' he said. Manwhile UK ecommerce sales have grown by 42 per cent in a year, confounding post-dotcom pessimism.

Online sales for 2001 almost doubled to o17bn, according to figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

The ONS survey of 12,000 businesses shows an overall increase of 42 per cent, with sales to households up 53 per cent and to business up 36 per cent. 'Dotcom doom-mongers should eat their words,' ecommerce minister Stephen Timms told Computing.

'The figures show that ecommerce was not just the latest fad, but is becoming part of everyday business.

'The massive increases in online sales mean businesses and consumers are exploiting the new opportunities and benefits it offers.' And there are even greater business benefits that the survey results don't show, says Liz Grant, director of advisory body UK Online for Business. 'Online trading is one ebusiness application, but companies don't have to sell online to realise other more sophisticated returns on investment from using internet technology,' she said. 'For example, using IT to improve business communications with customers and suppliers is a key lever to growth and you don't need to be taking orders online to do it. 'A few years ago everyone thought a website would triple your sales overnight but now business is looking to use technology to cut costs and improve productivity.'

As the economic situation improves and enabling technologies such as broadband become more widely available, things can only get better, says Confederation of British Industry head of ebusiness Jeremy Beale.

'The ONS figures are very significant, and they are within the context of a tough economic climate.

'Imagine what will happen when we get into a growth climate - the figures will shoot up.

'And once we have ubiquitous broadband we will be able to do even more,' he said. (Sarah Arnott)

What is the electronic marketplace?

Electronic markets ordinarily refer to online trading and auctions, for example, online stock trading markets, online auction for computers and other goods. The electronic marketplace refers to the emerging market economy where producers, intermediaries and consumers interact electronically or digitally in some way. The electronic marketplace is a virtual representative of physical markets. The economic activities undertaken by this electronic marketplace collectively represent the digital economy. Electronic commerce, broadly defined, is concerned with the electronic marketplace. The electronic marketplace resembles physical markets (the one we know) in many aspects. As in physical markets, components of the digital economy include:

o players (market agents such as firms, suppliers, brokers, shops and consumers)

o products (goods and services;) and

o processes (supply, production, marketing, competition, distribution, consumption, etc.).

The difference is that, in the electronic marketplace, at least some of these components are electronic, digital, virtual or online (whichever term you may prefer). For example, a digital player is someone with an email or a Web page. Purely "physical" sellers may be selling a digital product, e.g. digital CD-ROM. One that sells physical products at a physical store may offer product information online (thereby allowing consumers to "search online"), while production, ordering, payment and delivery are done conventionally.

Currently, the emphasis is on the core of the electronic marketplace where everything (i.e. all value chains or business activities) is online. But, if any aspect of your business or consumption dwells upon the digital process, you are already part of the electronic marketplace. That is, almost all of us are already players in the electronic marketplace!

InfoEPMS - Electronic Payment Management System

InfoEPMS is an online payment system currently using the HSBC and Sampath Bank payment gateways, to pay internet and email bills online while catering to easy adaptation to any bank gateway introduced in the future. The customers are provided with a valid electronic receipt acknowledging the payment and are simultaneously emailed a copy of the receipt in a required format, while facilitating a self printable receipt option as well.

INFOEPMS is currently implemented and in operation at Suntel Limited, one of Sri Lanka's telecom service providers. INFOEPMS is a web based payment administration system which carries out the recoveries of incomplete transactions while performing administrative functions of the payment gateway.

It consists of a General Query System (GQS), a Disaster Recovery System (DRS) and a General Administration System (GAS) GQS provides querying facilities for the customer care division. DRS with its unique recovery algorithms has the ability to recover and complete incomplete transactions without user intervention. It provides facilities to detect and invalidate invalid transactions. Successful transactions will be immediately updated.

This system is the first of its kind in Sri Lanka. GAS provides basic administrative functions to manage and view the server log files and a facility whereby online customers can be logged off for administrative work. The administration module has a rule based login system for its users. This product by Informatics won the first runner up Award in the BCS National Best Quality Software Awards competition in category 1 - products completed , implemented and in operation InfoTrack - Courier Package Tracking SystemINFOTrack, is a web-based information system that enables Customers, Transport Companies, Warehouses and others involved in the transportation of couriered packages to communicate regarding the movement and status of orders/ goods. InfoTrack provides complete visibility, control and pro-active reporting of the entire process from order to delivery. It consists of: a Web Application component which caters to Creating/Managing Service Level Agreements (SLA), Order Placement, Status update by courier companies, Track and Trace for orders, On forwarding orders and Reporting.

An Integrated Information Gateway (IIG) which provides an information exchange infrastructure for customers and transport partners. A Digital Dashboard which monitors proactive alerts when transport partners breach service level agreementsand A Billing module which enables transport partners to generate invoices to customers for the services.

This product by Informatics won the first runner up Award in the BCS National Best Quality Software Awards competition in category 2 - products completed and ready for implementation

Biometrics to solve security problems

Just a few short years ago luminous panels that accepted palm prints or scanners that searched retina patterns were only found in James Bond and futuristic films, writes editorial assistant Brian Runciman.

In 2002 UK passports may soon use fingerprints and iris identity scans in a bid by the Home Office to make them more secure. Last year Scotland Yard celebrated 100 years of biometric investigation: its Fingerprint Bureau was founded on 1 July 1901. Biometrics is big news, as the digital age brings increasing security problems.

What do we mean by biometrics? It is a system for identifying an individual by comparing the details of a stored unique biological or physical characteristic to the details of a live sample from a person requesting security access.

The variety is now staggering: geometry patterns of the face, hands, fingerprints or palms constitute biometrics. Even knee scan recognition, back of the knee scan recognition, ear geometry verification, body odour recognition, vein pattern recognition, and gait pattern recognition are viable.

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