E-COMMERCE IN ITALY: SOME PRELIMINARY FINDINGS.
From Case Studies To Statistical Surveys
ELECTRONIC COMMERCE BUSINESS IMPACTS PROJECT WORKSHOP
Rome, 29-30 October 2001
Fabiola Riccardini
ISTAT-National Statistical Institute
Introduction
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Aims of the presentation:
 finding
a way to go from case-studies to statistical
surveys for supporting generalisation of
behaviours and motivations of the case studies to
the sector as a whole
 supporting further researches
Outline
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The National project
The statistical surveys
Future research
The National Project
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The EBIP team: the National Statistical Institute, Business
Association (ABI, TELECOM ITALIA LAB, ASSINFORM),
Ministries, and Experts
3 sectors analysed: Textile-clothing, Banking sector, IT
Distribution with EBIP methodology
Findings from case-studies: other presentations in the
workshop
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Statistical surveys: an overview on all economic sectors
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Output: A National Report (still in progress)
The ISTAT Statistical Surveys on
E-Commerce on Businesses
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Annual survey on SMEs (less then 100
employed) with a module on ICT usage and ecommerce. First time year 2000
Ad hoc survey on businesses (from 10 and over
employed) on ICT usage and e-commerce.
First time year 2001
Annual survey on SMEs (less then 100
employed)
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definitions harmonised with others European countries
and in the context of the Structural Business Statistics
Regulation.
in year 2000 the survey covered beside other economic
variables a specific module for:
 level of diffusion of:
– IT equipment
– electronic mail
– businesses presence on the Web with their own web-sites
 information
on:
– on-line purchases
– on-line sales
Empirical evidences: size does matter
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48,7% of businesses on average have IT equipment (personal computer)
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44,1%
77,1%
89,5%
94,8%
98,2%
39,9% of businesses provided with IT equipment have an e-mail
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class 1-4 employed
class 5-9 employed
class 10-19 employed
class 20-49 employed
class 50-99 employed
class 1-4 employed
class 5-9 employed
class 10-19 employed
class 20-49 employed
class 50-99 employed
36,6%
43,7%
59,2%
73,5%
84,4%
13,9% of businesses provided with IT equipment have a web site
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class 1-4 employed
class 5-9 employed
class 10-19 employed
class 20-49 employed
class 50-99 employed
10,8%
19,6%
27,7%
43,8%
56,9%
Empirical evidences: size/sector does matter
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8,7% of businesses on average provided with PC have made at least one on-line
purchases (BtoB) in the last two years
 class 1-4 employed
8,3%
 class 50-99 employed
16,9%
9,5% of businesses on average provided with PC have made at least one on-line
sales (BtoB and BtoC) in the last two years
 class 1-4 employed
8,5%
 class 50-99 employed
27,9%
in manufacturing sector there is on average a higher inclination towards on-line
sales transactions
in services sector there is on average a wide intense use activity on-line
purchasing
high intensity R&D sectors of manufacturing sector are those with higher inclination
for on-line purchases
services to enterprises show also high probability of purchasing through the net,follow
hotel and restaurants sector
traditional sectors of the manufacturing industry present an inclination towards sales
on the net higher than that for purchasing
high intensity R&D sectors of manufacturing sector and hotel and restaurant sectors
present higher inclination than traditional manufacturing
geographical locations does not influence so much the attitude towards the use of the
net for purchases and sales
Ad Hoc Survey on Businesses (From 10 and Over
Employed) on ICT Usage and E-Commerce. (1)
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Variables and definitions harmonised with others European countries
plus others adaptations to national needs (also from EBIP project)
in year 2001 the survey covered:
 module on use and degree of diffusion of ICT (IT, Intranet, EDI, internet,
Web, type of internet connection: mobile, modem, ISDN,XDSL,other broadband…..
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module on use of e-commerce for purchases (BtoB):
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make on-line purchases by type of protocols (internet, other protocols)
barriers: type of goods and services needed, too few suppliers,delivery costs,logistics,
uncertainty in making payments, skills
perceived benefits: cost savings, speed of processing,simplification of processes,large
offer available
channels for purchases on lines (marketplaces, portals…)
estimation of e-purchases on total purchases
module on use of e-commerce for sales
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make on-line sales by type of protocols (internet, other protocols)
barriers
perceived benefits
channels
estimation of e-sales on total purchases
Ad hoc survey on businesses (from 10 and over employed)
on ICT usage and e-commerce. (2)
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module on use of intermediaries and general appraisals on internet
use and e-commerce: (use of specialised intermediaries for purchases and for
sales)
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first empirical evidences (preliminary results):
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size
e-commerce
direct
intermediaries
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class >10
class 10-49
class 50-99
class 100-249
class >250
16,76%
15,28%
24,76%
27,55%
39,48%
9,58%
8,74%
14,71%
14,99%
21,83%
10,76%
9,82%
15,09%
19,34%
24,53%
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sector
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manufacturing
trade
hotel and restaurant
transport
financial services
services to enterprises
15,33%
14,26%
22,16%
13,99%
30,06%
27,54%
7,70%
7,95%
17,06%
8,07%
17,65%
20,05%
10,07%
9,37%
11,60%
10,08%
18,76%
16,88%
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Ad hoc survey on businesses (from 10 and over employed) on
ICT usage and e-commerce. (3)
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0,59% of total turnover derives from on-line sales :
12.371.185 millions of liras are e-turnover
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0,75% of total purchases derives from on-line purchases:
15.720.214 millions of liras are e-purchases
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we are in an embryonic stage
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Future Research
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Verifying over the time the impacts seen in early
stage
Enlarge number of case studies on different
sectors for value-chain analysis
Unit of analysis: from enterprises versus group of
enterprises
Evolution of statistical surveys: monitoring of type
of impacts