Business Use of

the World-Wide Web

Possible uses of the Internet and World Wide Web for business

The Internet and, more particularly, the WWW are attracting businesses in their thousands, with the following appearing to

be the main application areas:

• Publicity, Marketing and Advertising

• The WWW appears to be an ideal medium for businesses attempting to promote themselves and their wares. Setting up a site on the WWW, and thus gaining instant access to millions of people all over the globe, can be achieved at a small fraction of the cost using more conventional methods (Watson, 1994).

• Direct On-line Selling

• It is already possible to visit ‘virtual malls’ full of ‘virtual shops’, browse through catalogues and examine various products in vast detail, all courtesy of the Web. This has all been made possible by the multi-media capabilities that the Web provides (Minio, 1994).

The Internet and, more particularly, the WWW are attracting businesses in their thousands, with the following appearing to

be the main application areas:

• Research and Development• Companies, especially those involved in research

and development, can use the Internet as an additional resource for collecting information. Tetzeli (1994) explains how it is possible to post a query on a bulletin board or join a discussion group and receive advice on how to solve the problem. Alternatively, there are millions of Web pages, some of which contain access to searchable databases of information relating to particular subjects.

The Internet and, more particularly, the WWW are attracting businesses in their thousands, with the following appearing to

be the main application areas:

• Communication

• The use of low-cost electronic mail (e-mail) is the Internet service used most extensively by businesses (Rosen, 1994). Kehoe (1994) illustrates the strength of e-mail with the example of ‘Digital Equipment’ which has over 31,000 computers linked up to the Internet and exchanges about 1.7 million e-mail messages each month with people external to the company.

The Internet and, more particularly, the WWW are attracting businesses in their thousands, with the following appearing to

be the main application areas:

• Collaboration

• When links are formed between companies, it can be easy for them to communicate through the Internet. One example of this is the collaboration between IBM and Bellcore who use Internet links to share a workstation (Tetzeli, 1994).

The Internet and, more particularly, the WWW are attracting businesses in their thousands, with the following appearing to

be the main application areas:

• Although the WWW has only existed for the last two years, there are already over 20,000 business corporations with Web sites (Yahoo!, 1995), the figure having doubled in the last three months alone. There has been continued speculation, from a wide range of sources, that the Internet and more specifically the WWW will be the business tool of the future and that companies which do not expand in this direction will be left by the side of the information superhighway.

The Internet and, more particularly, the WWW are attracting businesses in their thousands, with the following appearing to

be the main application areas:

• The Study• Two methods were employed in the study: first, a

sample of 300 businesses with Web sites, across a wide range of industry types, was examined, by selecting (rather than sampling) companies from theYahoo! directory (1995). The sites were investigated in relation to several areas - the purpose of the Web site, the use being made of electronic mail and the extent to which multi-media was being utilised. In addition, any other aspects of the site which were designed to make it more interesting to potential customers were also noted.

The Internet and, more particularly, the WWW are attracting businesses in their thousands, with the following appearing to

be the main application areas:

• Secondly, an electronic-mail questionnaire was sent to 222 of the 300 companies surveyed: that is, those that provided an e-mail address for contact. 14 were returned immediately due to unknown addresses or technical problems. Of the remaining 208, 102 replies were received, five of which were of no relevance, leaving 97 completed questionnaires to examine; a response rate of 47%, which is surprisingly good for a survey of this kind.

The Internet and, more particularly, the WWW are attracting businesses in their thousands, with the following appearing to

be the main application areas:

Problems facing electronic commerce

Problems facing electronic commerce

A number of problems must be overcome before electronic becomes a dominant form of business. The companies were asked what they believed to

be the main hurdles to the success of electronic commerce. The following categories were presented for selection:

• Development of secure sites

• Development of suitable payment systems (e.g. digital cash)

• Faster connection times

• Wider access

• Information overload for potential customers

• The unattractiveness of on-line shopping

• Other

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