Presentation at the international conference “PECOS4SMEs – Cross-border e-Commerce for SMEs” by Mattheos Kakaris. This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

1. www.ccseducation.com
Presenting to
PECOS4SMEs cross-border
e-Commerce

2. State of Affairs

3. E-Commerce
Benefits
E-Commerce
is ideal for
cross-border
sales
because:
UBIQUITIOUS NATURE (24/7, 365);
GLOBAL REACH (across cultural/national boundaries);
UNIVERSAL STANDARDS (low market entry for merchants);
INFORMATION RICHNESS (more powerful selling
environment);
INTERACTIVITY (can simulate f2f experience, but on a global
scale);
INFORMATION DENSITY (amount & quality of information
available);
PERSONALISATION/CUSTOMISATION & PARTICIPATIVE
TOOLS.

4. Improving
e-Commerce Environment
Directive 2000/31/EC created the legal framework for e-Commerce in the
Internal Market by removing obstacles to cross-border online services in the
EU and providing legal certainty to business and citizens. In this
environment cross border e-Commerce is growing steadily, but not equally
across Europe.

5. Improving
e-Commerce Environment
Under the Europe 2020 strategy – launched on 3 March 2010 (IP/10/225) – the
Commission is tackling bottlenecks in the Single Market to drive economic
recovery. Example initiatives over the last few years comprise:
Mini1SS – Application of VAT on electronically supplied distant services
VoeS – VAT on e-Services
E-Invoicing
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

6. Internet Purchases by
Individuals

7. E-Sales Vs. Size
Significant variation in the share of enterprises conducting e-sales and the
turnover from the e-sales according to enterprise size.
40 % of large enterprises made e-sales corresponding to 19 % of turnover.
25 % of medium enterprises made e-sales corresponding to 11 % of turnover.
15 % of small enterprises engaged in e-sales, corresponding to only 5 % of
turnover.

8. Cross border e-Commerce not fully
exploited by enterprises selling online
In the EU-28, while almost all enterprises making electronic sales (17%) reported
reported that they sold to the markets in their own countries, only 7 % of
enterprises made online sales to other EU countries.
While 30 % of enterprises in Denmark made online sales — ranked 1st EU
EU countries — only 10% of enterprises reported selling to other EU countries.
More enterprises in Luxembourg and Ireland reported selling to customers in other
in other EU countries (15 %, 12% respectively) than to their own country (14 %,
(14%, 7% respectively).

9. E-Commerce
Barriers
Barriers
related to
cross border
E-Com:
Lack of financial resources;
Current economic uncertainty;
Online fraud issues;
Distribution issues;
Costs associated to use of credit cards;
Lack of legal framework knowledge;
Lack of market intelligence info;
Inability to attract foreign consumers;

10. Vendors Vs. Consumer
Priorities
Vendors Priorities Consumers Priorities
• Professional look and feel • Trust seals
• Trust Seals • Variety of payment methods
• Newsletters • Good access to information about
products, services and prices
• Sales alerts • Website professional look and feel
• High ranking at search engine results • Price comparison services
• Variety of Payment methods • Clear and quick navigation

11. Critical Improvement
Areas
Most critical
areas of
improvement
include:
Optimization of online stores website features;
Best practices, tools and techniques;
Market intelligence;
E-Safety;
Regulations in target countries;
Customer relationship management;
Delivery methods and costs;

12. THANK
YOU
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