According to an Amazon survey carried out in Europe by Harris Interactive, it is indicated that VSEs and SMEs have difficulties in getting started in e-commerce. Why that ? It seems that small businesses are still not very interested in the opportunities of this distribution channel. Digital does not yet seem to be at the heart of the e-business strategies of VSEs and SMEs.
The leaders of VSEs-SMEs do not seem to correctly understand the opportunities of digital tools or at the very least, they do not manage to understand them at their fair value. How can the managers of this type of company be supported in learning and using these tools?
E-commerce, still shunned by VSEs-SMEs
VSEs and SMEs achieve only 6,2% of their turnover using their e-commerce site according to the Amazon study. The first reason for this? Simply the fact that only 19% of these small structures have a real e-commerce strategy. However, some sectors are more advanced than others in this area. For example, in the field of sport and leisure, 36% of VSEs and SMEs use e-commerce.
It also seems that the more VSEs and SMEs have a large number of employees (between 50 and 250 employees) the more they practice e-commerce (33% of them). However, it should be noted that the turnover achieved online is still low for these structures (6,1%). In other words, it seems obvious that France is changing with the development of e-commerce. However, companies have not completed their transition to digital. In other words, either the company (VSE or SME) does not have an online activity or it has one but still cannot make it a profitable activity.
What are the possibilities of digital for VSEs and SMEs?
Why do VSEs and SMEs not engage in e-commerce? The reason actually comes from managers who fail to understand all the capabilities and all the usefulness of the online distribution channel. In other words, according to this study, for 61% of them, e-commerce is not something relevant to their business and therefore it does not become a priority.
Other obstacles to the adoption of e-commerce as a real distribution channel are also mentioned, such as the major investments to be made, which are difficult to quickly pay off. There is also a real issue related to the resources of VSEs and SMEs in terms of lack of time (42%), infrastructure (39%) or skills (37%). These three elements add to the fact that setting up an e-commerce project is costly in the minds of VSE and SME managers.
Finally, the leaders of these small structures indicate that the most important digital tools for them are in fact elements more related to communication than to sales as such, as shown in the graph below. For example, the website to present in detail the products or services of VSEs and SMEs is already often set up (70%) or proves useful (40%) while a website to sell online products is only owned by 37% of VSEs and SMEs and is only considered useful by 25% of them. Marketplaces, on the other hand, are judged as “not useful at all”.
It seems obvious, but for VSEs and SMEs, the tool that is most relevant in order to develop commercially speaking remains the corporate email. The showcase website, allowing companies to present their products or services, is considered the second most useful tool. As for the other channels, such as the e-commerce site, the mobile application, a cloud server, online sales software or even a marketplace, are very little used and are also perceived as not very useful for the managers of VSEs and SMEs.
Hardly used by VSEs and SMEs, e-commerce is nevertheless appreciated once adopted
Once adopted by VSEs and SMEs, e-commerce is appreciated for its great usefulness! Lompanies that have an e-commerce site are more confident in the future. Moreover, the positive effects of e-commerce on the turnover of companies reinforce positive perceptions about commerce on the web. In this sense, e-commerce is understood as:
- A way to improve the catchment area (74%)
- A way to accelerate the speed at which the company makes sales (70%)
- A way to accelerate business growth (70%)
- A way to facilitate innovation (64%)
- A way to better understand and serve customers (62%)
VSEs and SMEs perceive e-commerce differently than companies already well established in their sector of activity. Indeed, for managers of smaller companies, priorities are sometimes difficult to set up and an e-commerce site, which requires fairly large investments, is not on the agenda. Investments are allocated as a priority to other less expensive budget items in the hope that they will have a good return. However, certain strategies such as selling on marketplaces, for example, prove to represent a great development opportunity without involving large initial investments. To test !
