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The Internet is redefining relations between businesses and consumers, enabling companies to sell their products and services around the globe on an unprecedented scale. Shoppers can buy online at their convenience at any time and from anywhere. E-commerce therefore allows firms around the world to compete in the global marketplace, at lower costs.
Use of the Internet to sell goods or services varies across industries and countries. In OECD countries, on average, over 33% of all businesses (with 10 or more employees) use the Internet for purchasing and about 17% for selling goods or services.
Over half of all businesses in Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand and Switzerland purchase via the Internet. Approximately one-third of all businesses in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom sell goods or services via the Internet.
Canada and Korea show the largest differences between the shares of businesses selling and purchasing over the Internet. Large differences coincide with exceptionally high use of Internet purchasing and, generally, a below-average level of Internet selling.
In most European countries, the volume of Internet and other e-commerce sales transactions (including over proprietary electronic data interchange) is increasing as a percentage of total turnover. In 2008, Norway, Denmark, the United Kingdom and Ireland reported the highest shares.
Measuring electronic commerce
OECD defines an Internet commerce transaction as "the sale or purchase of goods or services, whether between businesses, households, individuals, governments, and other public or private organisations, conducted over the Internet" .
The goods or services are ordered over the Internet, but the payment or ultimate delivery of the good or service may be conducted on or off line. The OECD suggests including: orders received or placed on any Internet application used in automated transactions such as web pages, extranets and other applications that run over the Internet (such as electronic data interchange [EDI] over the Internet), or over any other web-enabled application regardless of how the web is
accessed (mobile phone, TV set, etc.). It suggests excluding orders received or placed by telephone, facsimile or conventional e-mail. A broader electronic commerce transaction may be conducted over any computer-mediated network (including the Internet). The OECD suggests including: orders received or placed on any online application used in automated transactions such as Internet applications, EDI over proprietary networks, Minitel or interactive telephone systems. It should be noted that differences exist in the statistical treatment of e-commerce by countries.
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Sources
OECD, ICT Database, May 2009.
Eurostat Community Survey on ICT Usage in Enterprises, May 2009.
Going further
OECD (2008), "The Future of the Internet Economy: A Statistical Profile" , www.oecd.org/dataoecd/44/56/40827598.pdf.
OECD (2009), "Guide to Measuring the Information Society 2009" , www.oecd.org/sti/measuring-infoeconomy/guide.
Figure notes
The definition of Internet selling and purchasing varies between countries, with some explicitly including orders placed by conventional e-mail (e.g. Australia and Canada) and others explicitly excluding them (e.g. Ireland, the United Kingdom and some other European countries). Most countries explicitly use the OECD concept of Internet commerce, that is, goods or services ordered over the Internet but payment and/or delivery may be off line. For Australia, Internet income results from orders received via the Internet or the web for goods or services, where an order is a commitment to purchase.
Total sales via the Internet or other networks during the reference year, excluding VAT.
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| Indicator in PDF |
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| Internet selling and purchasing for total industry, 2008 |
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| Percentage of enterprises' total turnover from e-commerce, 2008 |
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