Internet and e-commerce statistics

Citation

Foley, P. (2001), "Internet and e-commerce statistics", European Business Review, Vol. 13 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ebr.2001.05413bag.001

Internet and e-commerce statistics

Internet and e-commerce statistics

Businesses, public sector organisations and individuals often find it difficult and expensive to access good quality information about the Internet and e-commerce. Commercial reports about e-commerce and the Internet produced by market research companies usually cost thousands of pounds (sterling) and access is therefore generally restricted to a small number of larger businesses that are able to afford them.

To overcome this problem the e-Envoy's Office launched the eStatMap to provide everyone with access to high quality statistics in an easy to understand format. I must express a vested interest here since The International Electronic Commerce Research Centre (IECRC), along with BT and the e-Envoy's Office, is a partner in this initiative.

The eStatMap provides statistics within a clear framework that examines the key adoption and use stages that individuals, businesses and government encounter, see Figure 1. The framework examines the readiness of individuals, businesses and government organisations to get online; the technologies they can use now and in the future; how they use the Internet; the key purposes for use (such as commerce, recreation and education) and the impact of the Internet and e-commerce.

This format overcomes the problems that often arise when e-commerce statistics are presented in isolation, without reference to other stages of the adoption and use process.

Figure 1 The eStatMap analytical framework

The eStatMap concept arose during a large research project undertaken by IECRC, BT and Teleconomy for the e-Envoy's Office in Spring 2000. This project reviewed all the key market research reports about the Internet and e-commerce that had been published by 30 market research companies during the previous 18 months. More than 200 reports and 7,500 pages of hard copy and digital reports were analysed. The analytical framework developed to examine the market research reports lies at the heart of the eStatMap and the approach was adopted by UK government for the analysis and benchmarking of UK performance in the UKonline Annual Report 2000 published in September (www.e-envoy.gov.uk/2000/progress/anrep1/default.htm).

The eStatMap analytical framework originally consisted of 115 measures. These were compared with variables being considered by an OECD working group. The 31 measures or variables that now comprise the eStatMap, were selected to provide the best insight to e-commerce and Internet use.

Key considerations in selecting the list of key measures were:

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  Measures must be relevant to UK government targets.

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  They should be capable of international applicability.

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  They should be robust and reliable.

The three organisations working in partnership to create the eStatMap constantly monitor new market research reports produced by public and private sector organisations about the Internet and e-commerce. A board, consisting representatives from the e-Envoy's Office, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Further Education and Employment (DFEE), Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the IECRC, review relevant reports for addition to the site. The site is updated regularly when new reports or other relevant information is received. eStatMap endeavours to provide the most up to date, robust and suitable information within an easy to use framework.

On the eStatMap Web site any of the cells shown in the Figure 1 can be "pressed" to access one or more statistics about the measure. For instance clicking the "Individual readiness" cell provides statistics about the percentage of households in the UK that access the Internet and the barriers that prevent some people from accessing the Internet. Each of these statistics is presented graphically and a small accompanying commentary describes the statistics and the survey from which the data was derived.

eStatMap was launched by Alex Allan, the e-Envoy, on Tuesday 11 July 2000 at the e-Business Summit 2000. The site has received the support of many UK based market research companies, such as Datamonitor, Forrester, Gartner, NOP who waive copyright restrictions on selected statistics so that results can be included the eStatMap. Statistics are also obtained from government and statutory agencies such as the Office for National Statistics, Oftel and the OECD.

In the interest of balance it is important to note that Nua, Cisco and the Australian Office for the Information Economy also provide statistics.

Web sites

Listed below is a selective review of Web sites that provide details about Internet and e-commerce statistics. Dynamic links to these pages can be found at the International Electronic Commerce Research Centre Web site: http://www.iecrc.org/EBR14_LINKS.html

eStatMaphttp://www.e-envoy.gov.uk/2000/strategy/estatmap/estatmap.htm

Australia – National Office for the Information Economyhttp://www.noie.gov.au/

Cisco Facts and Statshttp://www.cisco.com/warp/public/779/govtaff/factsNStats/index.html

Nua Internet Surveyshttp://www.nua.ie/

Paul FoleyDirector of the International Electronic Commerce Research Centre, De Montfort University, Leicester, and Visiting Professor, School of Accounting and Information Systems, University of South Australia. E-mail: pdf@dmu.ac.uk