BIDC Business Catalyst 6 #3.indd 1 12/21/10 3:17:07 PM

E-Commerce
more aware of the competition within their market and of
market changes, which can lead to product/service innovation or
quality improvement.
Other competitive benefits: E-commerce can result in
increased efficiency within the business. Not only will it reduce
costs but it can also increase the speed of transactions; both
buying and selling. There are also opportunities for continuous
trading in that suppliers and customers can access a 24-hour/7
day sales service. This would allow the business to quickly
locate the best suppliers and where necessary the most suitable
business partners. Expanding the base of suppliers can enable the
business to purchase cheaper raw materials and supplies.
The lack of appropriate online payment processing systems; the
high cost of shipping within and out of the region; affordable
telecommunications; concerns with online security and legal
issues are some of the challenges faced by our SMEs when
seeking to create a Web presence. In a recent survey conducted
Further developments and growth of e-commerce in Barbados
are more or less dependent on the types of approaches taken
by our business entities, notwithstanding any e-commerce
policies/strategies that might be put in place by the government.
Individuals or businesses seeking to get involve in e-commerce
should not only be concerned with getting a website developed
and having goods and services available online. Selecting the
right goods and services, choosing an e-commerce platform that
best suits those goods and services, conducting the appropriate
business research, creating an online marketing strategy, and
adopting the appropriate business model are all important factors
that must be taken into consideration.
There is great potential for e-commerce to advance among SMEs
and bring economic growth in the country. To this end, there is a
need to take the following recommendations into consideration.
Awareness raising: this should seek to develop a businessled
approach that examines the potential costs and benefits
within the CARIFORUM States, when asked
about the nature of their concerns while
doing business via the Internet, most SMEs
gave various reasons for their concerns. Some
55% were concerned with website security,
42% cited lack of reliable online payment
systems, 31% were concerned about website expenses, and
25% stated that their products were not well suited.
Some local businesses have adopted a number of different
approaches when seeking to venture into
e-commerce. The creation of a website with
a static catalog display of goods seems to
work well for those entities still skeptical
about conducting business in the online
environment. With this approach, parties
interested in the goods on display would
send enquiries via e-mails; all other
transactions relating to the completion
of the sale are done offline. Another
approach is where the SME uses a third
party hosted solution such as PayPal, or
2Checkout who look after some or all of
the key components of e-commerce.
of e-commerce in relation to overall
business goals and strategies, and in the
full knowledge of what is happening in
that particular market. I strongly think
that e-commerce needs to be looked
at from a business-led approach as opposed to an
information-led technology approach.
Business support services: the banking sector and government
agencies that currently run support services (training, finance and
advice) for SMEs will need to integrate e-commerce support into
these wider programmes.
Chester Coppin may be contacted at
chesterfield.coppin@commerce.gov.bb
Barbados Business Catalyst • July - September 2010
9