E-Commerce and Internet Marketing in Yemen: Opportunities and Challenges

Nowadays, information and communication technologies (ICT) are advancing in a fast speed. It is widely acknowledged that businesses can benefit a lot from the process of applying the advanced technology in both B2B and B2C Marketing. For example, both the behaviors of buying and selling can be completed based on Internet and information system, and this is called e-Commerce. Under this situation, the internet marketing has emerged. It is represented by e-Marketplace which is known as a virtual place. The emergence of e-platforms is helpful for businesses to find more customers and finish the business transactions effectively and efficiently. Despite the limitations and obstacles in adopting and implementing e-commerce, SMEs can still enjoy the benefits of e-commerce. Yemen is still developing the basic elements of an e-commerce infrastructure such as networking, electronic payments and IT-related services, including information technology education and training. Yemen has recently gained higher mobile subscriptions and Internet access penetration rates. The increased use and popularity of mobile phones in Yemen has opened the door to large-scale introduction of e-commerce. Due to the high penetration rate and infrastructure construction, Yemen has good potential to apply ICT and e-commerce. However, Yemeni e-commerce must overcome the lack of experience and skills such as ICT and e-commerce, the concentration of ICTs in urban areas, and the shortage of information technology personnel and facilities. The document suggests that effective e-commerce adoption and implementation should be conducted under carefully designed national ICT and e-commerce development plans and guidelines. Keywords: Electronic commerce, information and communication technology, electronic business, mobile commerce, developing countries, technology transfer, emerging economies, digital economy, Middle East, Yemen. DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/11-21-04 Publication date:July 31st 201

Competing in the Digital Economy?: The Dynamics and Impacts of B2B E-commerce on the South African Manufacturing Sector

ICTs, B2B e-commerce, manufacturing sector, South Africa

Internet, adjustment of firms and the spatial division of labour

The rise of the Internet has been heralded as the 'death of distance' that may eventually entail a 'decline of the city'. Whether or not these futuristic visions will materialize will depend upon how firms and industries react to the Internet as a general-purpose technology. Besides the locational choice of New Economy firms themselves it is the adoption of E-commerce in industries of the 'old' economy which has the potential for re-shaping the economic geography of regions, and which may, in many instances radically so, change the way to manage the internal organization of firms as well as relationships with business partners (B2B) and with consumers (B2C). The paper aims at discussing elements of a conceptual approach for evaluating these spatial effects of E-commerce activities on locational patterns in the old economy by identifying suitable proxy indicators from existing evidence, such as connectivity to IT-infrastructures, sectoral differences in B2B solutions, market (de-)concentration processes, or changes of functional employment structures of cities. Key words: Internet, E-commerce, Organizational Change, Firm Location, Spatial Division of Labour

Trusted operational scenarios - Trust building mechanisms and strategies for electronic marketplaces.

This document presents and describes the trusted operational scenarios, resulting from the research and work carried out in Seamless project. The report presents identified collaboration habits of small and medium enterprises with low e-skills, trust building mechanisms and issues as main enablers of online business relationships on the electronic marketplace, a questionnaire analysis of the level of trust acceptance and necessity of trust building mechanisms, a proposal for the development of different strategies for the different types of trust mechanisms and recommended actions for the SEAMLESS project or other B2B marketplaces.trust building mechanisms, trust, B2B networks, e-marketplaces

A Survey of Greek Agricultural E-Markets

The role that information technology plays in today’s business activities has led to an increase in firms using and/or deploying e-markets online. This development undoubtedly affects the agri-food sector, since a large number of agricultural firms are demonstrating or are expected to demonstrate e-commerce activities. This paper aims to provide an overview of the current status of agricultural e-markets in Greece, by presenting results from an analysis of 100 cases. Results indicate that Greek e-markets may still have a rather low degree of sophistication, but they demonstrate a strong B2B orientation, as well as an outreach for international customer bases.Internet, e-commerce, e-markets, agriculture, agri-food sector, survey, Consumer/Household Economics, Marketing,

The current state of E-commerce in Jordan: Applicability and future prospects

This study aimed at determining the current state of e-commerce in Jordan, as well as its future prospects. The research population consisted of all Jordanian industrial, service and/or trade companies that have a registered website. The population size was 712 companies. A total of 118 questionnaires were distributed to randomly selected companies and 95 were returned. Cronbach alpha measure was used to test the reliability of the organizational questionnaire and was calculated to be 0.80 reflecting stability and consistency of the scale and indicating the goodness of the measure. Other statistical tests were used to test the research hypotheses such as One-Sample t-test, Independent-Samples t-test, One-Way ANOVA, Chi-Square and Bivariate Correlations (Pearson). The research indicated that Jordan has adequate and efficient e-commerce requirements in general, but there is no suitable and appropriate Community Culture in order to reach E-commerce Readiness Stage. Some recommendations are then made based on research findings

Does B2C online logistics service quality impact urban logistics?

This paper reports on an in-progress research study regarding the impact of business to consumer (B2C) online logistics service quality (OLSQ) for shopper satisfaction and loyalty on urban logistics across the UK, France and Germany to also investigate country-specific differences of consumer online shopping behaviour and channel strategies. A two-stage approach is adopted consisting of firstly of qualitative research conducted with managers at the producer/retailer interface and secondly a quantitative survey stage targeting consumers as online shoppers to determine how their expectations of OLSQ and associated activities influence their satisfaction and ongoing loyalty. This study should contribute theoretically by considering a B2C setting for OLSQ, which is the final aspect of point-of-origin to point-of-consumption, as most general literature on these topics has been dominated by business to business (B2B) logistical designs, and also identify any discrepancies between consumer expectations or behaviour as it may affect urban logistics solutions. Further, this study should contribute practically by providing managers with an understanding of the components of OLSQ considered critical by consumers

UNDERSTANDING THE DETERMINANTS OF ICTS DIFFUSSION IN ECOWAS

The Information and Communication technology(ICT) environment in the economic community of west african states(ECOWAS) has changed sufficiently to warrant re-conceptualization of the earlier initiatives. Notably, many new technologies have emerged, especially in the area of wireless communications. Thus, ECOWAS ability to participate in and enhance its international competitiveness in the new global economy and hence make progress in poverty reduction depends in large part on its ability to use and adapt new information and technological innovations. This project therefore, sets out to enhance understanding and knowledge of the innovative effects of ICT poverty reduction and human development; and to improve ECOWAS capacities to formulate and implement national ICT policies that promote equitable access to ICT and information for socio-economic development.Technological progress, growth, productivity, diffusion, ICTS, AFRICAN ECONOMIES, DYNAMIC PANEL DATA

Tradern: a collaborative model for improving small business participation in electronic commerce in sub-Saharan Africa.

The inception of the Internet has brought with it Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce) practices which have greatly transformed the ways firms conduct businesses globally. Internet-based E-Commerce, particularly business-to-business (B2B) holds the key for small businesses to compete on a level playing field with their big business counterparts. Unfortunately, however, there is considerable evidence to show that small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries, particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), have not been reaping the benefits of this new commerce opportunity as their counterparts in North America and Europe. This chasm has given rise to another form of Digital Divide. This research has identified the major factors responsible for this state of affairs as the low level of participation by the SMEs in the SSA region in this global E-Commerce trade. SSA region has been identified as a region with the lowest level of economic, technological and Internet development in the world. There are 49 Countries in this region inhabited by over 633 million people representing about 10% of the world's population. They are characterised by a low income, low-levels of human resource development, as well as severe structural, social, political and economic weaknesses. All these have combined to make the region the poorest region in the world. It has been established that SMEs form the bedrock of every economy. There is also considerable evidence to suggest that the introduction of new technologies into organisations of all kinds and sizes has a major impact on the structure and functioning of the organizations. Furthermore, it has been established that B2B E-Commerce is contributing more to the global economy than all other forms of E-Commerce transactions. Equipping SMEs in developing countries, particularly those in SSA, by with emerging B2B technologies could help improve their growth potential which will invariably place them in a better position to contribute to the region's economic advancement. Existing models have failed in attracting large numbers of SMEs in the region, partly due to the prohibitive costs of these technologies which make them unaffordable by the poor SMEs. This research has identified that the issues of Trust as well as the problems associated with Fraud and Security also play a part in making E-Commerce unattractive to a lot of SMEs in SSA. Current theoretical frameworks have been extended by developing a new taxonomy showing the various components of E-Business where the distinctions between E-Commerce, E-Government, Tele-Medicine and E-Learning are clearly identified. This thesis seeks to find solutions to the identified problems by finding ways of attracting more SMEs in SSA to participate in the global E-Commerce endeavour. This is with a view to enabling them to leverage and maximise their E-Commerce potential, which in turn would help them exploit today's global E-Commerce opportunities. This will ultimately help them in contributing to the economic growth of the region. As a way of making E-Commerce attractive, affordable and profitable, an architectural model has been designed which, it is believed, would make the deployment and implementation of B2B E-Commerce more achievable for the poor SMEs in SSA. This model, known as Tradern Model, combines the trado-cultural and modern methods of conducting business. This combination would help SMEs deploying the technology to conduct their businesses using both methods without compromising their growth. Over and above everything else there is the benefit of a level-playing field which the SMEs in developing economies, like Africa, and particularly Sub-Saharan Africa, can capitalise on to leapfrog, improve and sustain their economic development and global e-business participation as a step towards bridging the digital divide

Internal report cluster 1: Urban freight innovations and solutions for sustainable deliveries (2/4)

Technical report about sustainable urban freight solutions, part 2 of