ICT and e-Business Impact in the Retail Industry - empirica

e-Business in the Retail SectorSurvey findingsRetail firms in the sample were asked about their ICT outsourcing activities (see Exhibit4.5-2).Exhibit 4.5-2: Outsourcing of ICT services (2007)0 20 40 60 80Retail (total, EU-7)Non-food storesFood storesOther retailing56585349Micro (1-9 empl.)Small (10-49 empl.)Medium (50-249 empl.)Large (250+ empl.)45596367Retail (USA)45The survey was conducted in seven EU Member States (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Sweden,United Kingdom) and in the USA.Base (100%) = companies using computers; N (Retail, EU-7 and USA) = 1151Weighted by employment. Questionnaire reference: E3Source: e-Business Survey 2007Outsourcing of ICT services increases with firm size: 49% of micro firms report that, in thepast 12 months, they have outsourced ICT services to external service providers whichwere previously conducted in-house. This number increases to 59% for small firms, 63’%for medium-sized firms and 67% for large firms. Compared to the US, European retailerswere relatively more active at outsourcing services in the past 12 months: 56% ofEuropean retail firms have outsourced ICT services while 45% of US retailers have doneso in the same period of time. Outsourcing in the non-food store is highest with 58% offirms doing it compared to 53% in the food store group and 49% in the other retailinggroup.Hypothesis testingTo test whether ICT leads to more market transactions in the analysed sector, thefollowing hypothesis was formulated:Hypothesis V.1: ICT endowment in retail firms is positively correlated with outsourcing.The hypothesis is tested on the basis of the following data from the e-Business Survey2007:Question G22: "Has your company outsourced any business activities in the past 12months which were previously conducted in-house?" (Dependent variable)114