Footwear Industry Footwear Industry - empirica

Footwear
Reasons for the delayed ICT adoption
The overall delay in ICT and e-business adoption by footwear companies in Europe,
relative to other sectors studied this year by e-Business W@tch, is at least in part caused
by the economic circumstances and this sector’s competitive evolution over the past
decades (see Section 2.2.2). The main reasons for this delay are:
Structural reasons: the high prevalence of small craft & trade companies, many of
which have a low propensity toward ICT adoption.
Lack of “pull-potential” from distribution chains and business partners: in
this industry, neither large firms nor distribution appear to be driving the adoption of
e-business as in other industries. The strong competitive pressure (even in terms
of survival) pushes footwear firms to be more focused on other strategic concerns,
such as international competition from low cost countries. It appears that most
companies do not see ICT as a viable tool to address this challenge.
e-Skills and the management factor. In micro and small footwear companies, the
use of ICT equipment and access to the internet are often limited to the owner and
to a few other key people (see Section 3.2.1). Knowledge and governance are not
spread across organisations, while changing skills requirements and ICT-skill gaps
are not considered as key issues.
Investment capability. The average small size and fierce pressure on prices and
margins reduce footwear firms’ investment capability. Nevertheless, results from
the survey illustrate that, presently, footwear firms are fairly in line with the average
of all sectors studied this year by e-Business W@tch as regards current and
planned investments in ICT (see Section 3.2.2).
Thus, although the picture of a ‘digital divide’ prevails, it can also be argued that
the 2006 survey data illustrate a cautious and selective approach to e-business
by footwear firms in Europe (see also Sections 3.4.3, 3.5.2, 3.6.2 and 3.8.2) . This
applies whether ICT investments are estimated as a share of total costs or in
absolute terms, within the same size bands. However, considering that micro and
small companies account for more than 95% of the total in this industry and the
fact that the sector’s larger companies seem to be the most reluctant to spending,
the sector overall is not likely to accelerate its pace towards e-business integration.
The complexity of technology. Footwear companies interviewed in the survey
said that the complexity of technology was a main reason for not using e-business
(see Section 3.8.1).
The picture is varied, however. There are examples of companies that reported difficulties
in finding suitable solutions on the market for e-business integration with their distribution
network (see the case studies on Alpina and Moreschi). Other examples show that even
small companies can successfully adopt e-business, when user-friendly and low cost
solutions are available (as illustrated in the case studies about INESCOP and SHOE D-
Vision). This potential dichotomy indicates that there might be a need for affordable,
sector-specific e-business solutions addressed to footwear industry’s SMEs (see
section 3.8.2).
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