accenture wants it both ways.
the cyberatlas article below refers to a new study published by accenture indicating that the state of european e-commerce is about where the US was in 1999. ok, fine. if we are not talking about mobile solutions, i'd tend to agree. in fact, i'd argue that smart companies in europe will benefit from this lag in the long term by learning from the best practices and mistakes made in the US and adopting strategies designed to incorporate what works and avoid the pitfalls ... but that's another story.
while this new report casts a shadow of doubt on european e-commerce, another major study from accenture indicates quite the opposite. the second study, "eEurope 2001: The Unexpected eEurope" shows that e-commerce in europe is more successful than last year and businesses are strongly committed to their e-commerce strategies despite despite the economic downturn. quoting their press release: New study shows unexpected European eCommerce success.
so, which one is it? a little of both, right? obviously. one reason for this bipolar attitude is that it is pretty clear that different groups at accenture are responsible for these two studies. you can tell not just by the tone or the opinions expressed, but by the style and wording. for example: one group refers to online commerce as "eCommerce" and the other uses "E-Commerce." Maybe they should figure out what to call it before they tell us what it is.
Europeans Still Working the Kinks Out of E-Commerce
By Michael Pastore
CyberAtlas
Consumers in the United States are seeing several improvements when they hit the online stores this holiday season, a sign that retailers that do business online have learned from their past mistakes. According to Accenture's third-annual holiday eFullfillment survey, which included for the first time this year France, Germany, Spain and Britain, e-commerce in America remains far ahead of key European markets.
Online Ordering Improves for e-Tailers in the U.S. as Europe Struggles to Catch Up
Accenture news release: Third Annual Holiday eFullfillment Survey
i've always enjoyed reading this one ...
Accenture: Perspectives on Europe
Accentures’s study, “The Unexpected eEurope,” shows that eCommerce is more successful than last year and businesses are strongly committed to their eCommerce strategies despite despite the economic downturn.
Friday, December 21, 2001
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