THE E-VOLUTION - INTERNET IS HERE TO STAY !!

The competitive edge for New Zealand Business

..Grant Sidaway..

The competitive edge

Time is on our side

When we are awake they are asleep

New Zealand has world class networks

An open market with 100+ ISP’s

Trading possible 24 hours x 7 days

How does it work then?

Telecommunications

passing information over a distance

now a true multimedia

288 million internet users

3000 new connections every hour

by 2005 765million internet users

10% of the time compared with telephone

What is the internet?

The internet is a world wide system of computer networks where users can get information from other computers

Internet Facts & Figure

60% of all New Zealand households have a personal computer

Online penetration in New Zealand households is approximately 41% ... and growing

New Zealanders are technology savvy with a high penetration of mobile phones, answer phones, faxes etc.

Slightly over half of all US households own a personal computer

Online penetration in US households show 63% of users are online once a day

Emailing

Still by far the most popular

5-6 million emails per day in New Zealand

fast, effective, low cost  ... and easy to make mistakes !!!

a couple of tips

the rules of cc and bcc

cc = carbon copy

all parties see the entire email list

bcc = blind carbon copy

only that person

Rule is - don’t expose your database

Sending Emails

Always use a signature file

On your signature file should be

Your Names

Your Business

Your mission statement

Phone and fax numbers

Response rates - it is important to respond to emails quickly

Brand names

Brand awareness on the Internet

Without one is like being without a phone

Easy to remember

Maximum 36 characters

consider whether your business best suits .com or .co.nz

Domain Name rules

In New Zealand there is not alot of rules

All NZ place names have gone already

most generic names have gone

alot registered domain names are now for sale eg. www.accountant.co.nz

register the alternatives as well - eg. misspellings etc.

Websites

Keep it simple

Make sure homepage downloads quickly

links to other sites are important

brochure sites  to e-commerce - start with a website that can grow

use professional hosting

include alternative contact information on your website eg. physical address, phone/fax etc.

Finding your site

Search engines

email links

links from other sites

direct from URL

second guess

Search Engines

hundreds to choose from

When was the last time you looked?

Listing on search engines is about key words

Who is in front of you?  Your competitor?

Evaluating cost of sales

Truth is no model to benchmark

Dot.com companies - bit of a freak!

Most is additional to existing marketing

The challenge is to migrate customers

Beware of the dark side

How secure is your connection

Do you have a “firewall”?

Have you imported a “Trogan”?

What “cookies” do you have?

Business Issues

Acquire customers - combat competition

Need to grow revenue - protect customer base

Reduce costs - Customer satisfaction

Internet advantage

• Internet strengths
• Millions of users
• 24 hours x 7 days
• Information access

Business benefits

Reduce costs

Increase sales

Customer service

Sellers Perspective

Increase sales

Deepen customer relationships

Reduce operating costs

Buyer’s perspective

reduce processing costs

eliminate maverick purchases

strengthen buying power

Without doubt internet dramatically lowers costs for both buyers and sellers

Branding

What is the brand you want to promote?

What values do you want attached to your brand?

Will need to adapt ... but reinforce don’t reinvent

Promote your www.site

Why do I need a website?

Like trying to run a business without a phone

Ways to be found - search engines - domain names - page links - advertising - word of mouth - Target It !!

Now turn browsers into buyers

Requirements

Clients demand trust

Authentication

Privacy

Security

Your brand needs to deliver all of this to achieve growth

Future of the Internet ...

Who knows !!!

trends include converging technology - more interactive - faster access - multi-media 

Challenge - are we ready?

Many issues to deal with

Mobile Internet is on its way ...

with a new digital network

CDMA - Code Division Multiple Access starts next year

Wireless Internet

Nationwide data network

Circuit & Packet date a 14.4kbp

the CD1 network will support IP wireless Internet based services

allow Internet capable devices to connect via your CDMA phone: laptop computers - PDA devices

Summary

Domain name - do it

brand awareness

keep it simple

use professional design

keep up to date

e-volve Internet into the Business Plan

Closing thought

• Last year New Zealanders spent $242 million
• Year before $46 million
• However $5 of every $6 went overseas
• Is the trend to continue?

INTRODUCTION

Leanne Taylor - WWW Design

The American Defence Department quickly followed by academics and researchers first conceived the Internet in 1969.  The descendants of these original supercomputers are still at the heart of the Internet, but the explosive growth in the last five years has transformed the concept from defence and academic life to the whirlwind of commerce from the comforts of home.

The two big killer applications of the Internet are electronic mail (email) and the World Wide Web from which we conduct e-commerce.  Just as we are all coming to terms with this we now have WAP (wireless application and m-commerce (mobile commerce) due for launch in New Zealand next year.

At the beginning of November 2001, along with some 700 others I was privileged to be accepted to attend the E-Commerce Summit held in Auckland.  The main aim of the Summit was to advance e-commerce for New Zealand business.  It was exciting to network with people representing business, government, education and the broader community whose use of information, communication and technology is making their businesses operate more effectively which in turn helps New Zealand connect more dynamically into the new global economy.  For two days I was presented with a wealth of inspiring and knowledgeable International and New Zealand speakers and attended workshops on Tourism, Building Consumer Confidence, Exporting and Innovation.

The Summit was very positive  - “preaching to the converted” always is.  To understand the power of the Internet it is necessary to understand the power of networks and an interesting comparison was given - back in the days when the telephone had just been invented, telephones weren’t very useful because there weren’t many people you could ring up - no one had a telephone !!  Now that almost every household has at least one phone and most of us, unfortunately, have one in our pocket, they are so useful that most of us regard them as essential.  This clearly shows that the value of a network grows in relation to the growth of the network. 

Quite simply the power of the Internet comes from its size.  A connection to the Internet this year with over 360 million users and access to over 2 billion web pages is very valuable to the user.  Therefore the bigger the Internet grows the more important it becomes.  The Internet has not changed business fundamentals - trust must still developed and is the basis for any ongoing business relationship.   The Internet is proof that people like to investigate and compare in their own time without the pressure of sales people.

Already having an email address is as important as having a fax machine and soon it will be just like having a telephone.  E-commerce means on-line trading and because no-one actually owns the Internet it is relatively inexpensive to purchase internet access and gives small businesses in small towns the use of technology that once would only have been available, because of cost, to a multinational company.  Small businesses can now operate in the global environment and participate in global networks and markets.  While e-commerce is about financial transactions, e-business is about all business processes from marketing and sales to information management and human resources.  E-business makes it possible for us to market our products on the web.  The bottom line is that all organisations, not just large corporates, now have the opportunity to take advantage of worldwide networks by using the Internet.  Distance has become irrelevant and transaction costs are minimal.  Everyone in business needs exposure, whether you operate a lawn mowing round or a huge corporate venture - success depends on exposure and the Internet is the tool to achieve this.

The Summit provided a platform for the Government to announce their vision “that New Zealand will be world class in embracing e-commerce for competitive advantage” that “Building our awareness and capability to participate in an electronic world is a matter for immediate attention by all New Zealanders”.  The Government assured us that it recognises its key role, alongside the private sector in providing leadership - building capability and providing an enabling regulatory environment.
 

The overall message from the Summit was quite clear and simple - “the train has left the station - get on board or be left behind!!”

The standard of presentations by the guest speakers at the Summit was outstanding, but for me the one that stood out the most was Jim Sterne from America.  Jim Sterne is an internationally recognised e-Business consultant and used a host of examples to demonstrate what works online and what doesn’t and if you ever get the opportunity to hear him speak - grab it.