Shock at Ecommerce Skills Survey conducted by Ecommerce Excellence in Scotland
27th August 2010
More eCommerce Skills needed to get Scottish businesses online.
When it comes to the skills of selling online, small and medium sized Scottish businesses (SME's) admit they're not very good. So says the 2010 eCommerce skills survey published by Ecommerce-Excellence, in partnership with ScotlandIS (the Scottish ICT Trade Body) and eCommerce supplier INDEZ.
Whilst the majority of respondents rated their overall eCommerce skill level as just "OK";
- 30% rate their ecommerce skills as "not too good" or "poor"
- Half of SMEs in Scotland think that further education is poor/not too good at providing ecommerce training support
- 53% found it hard/impossible to find staff with the necessary skills
- 61% rate their ecommerce business internationalisation skills as "not too good" or "poor"
- 46% rate their design and development skills as "not too good" or "poor"
Commenting on the results, INDEZ Chief Executive Dr Peter Mowforth said "According to the UK Governments latest figures, eCommerce is worth over £220 Billion in the UK alone and is growing at 35% per annum. This makes it larger than oil and gas and increasing at four times the growth rate of China. Although it is clearly of significant importance to the national economy there's more skills support for specialist hobbies than eCommerce. Somebody somewhere has got their priorities wrong".
Polly Purvis, Executive Director of ScotlandIS said "eCommerce is now a major force in the UK economy. The latest results from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index show that total eCommerce sales continue to grow substantially, with consumers spending £4.5 billion online last month alone.
Addressing this skills shortage would help transform the Scottish economy. If many more small businesses were trading online we could lift our exports substantially. It's essential to ensure there are people with the right skills available to both ecommerce businesses, and the specialist suppliers that work with them, so they can take advantage of this vibrant channel to market. Establishing high quality eCommerce training courses would be a great first step."
"Scotland benefits from internationally competitive, specialist suppliers, working with companies to help them transition to the online market place. There are some terrific examples of successful Scottish businesses who are making eCommerce work for them, from larger companies such as Barrhead Travel, to smaller ones such as Moray Seafoods, Toolstop and Active8 - I'd just love to see this number expanding."
Jenny Lockton, Director of www.bohemiadesign.com commented " There is such a large number of factors that effect online sales so getting the right advice and guidance is critical to online success. Unlike other professions, there are no standard eCommerce courses to go on and no standard qualifications - which seems odd given how important online trade is for modern business."
The survey was based on contacting 35 companies already trading online who were asked a series of questions about their own perceived skills and competence across different aspects of eCommerce.
