INFORMATION SYSTEM

Information System

Information System

Introduction

More than 10 million British Web surfers visited e-commerce sites over the holidays last December--an increase of 3 million compared with the number of online shoppers in December 2000. The 10 million online shoppers accounted for nearly 70 percent of the U.K. Internet population. The figures, released in a study published by Internet research firm NetValue on Tuesday, put Britain way ahead in the online retail market in Europe. Of the 10 million, nearly 3 million people made a secure connection. This was an increase of nearly 1 million over the number of purchases made online during the holidays in 2000. A secure connection implies that a person's credit card details were entered online, suggesting that a purchase was made. According to the NetValue report, the United Kingdom now has the highest visitor-to-purchase conversion rate of any European country. Twenty-nine percent of British customers visiting e-tail sites in December went on to make a secure connection, while just 6 percent of Italians visiting shopping sites, and 8 percent of Swedes, were enticed into doing so. Scandinavia failed to live up to its reputation of leading the way in e-commerce by demonstrating very low online sales figures in December 2001. Only 40 percent of the Swedish Internet population visited online retailers throughout the holidays. The NetValue study discovered that the average British woman spent more time on the Internet at home than the average man online in December 2001. Although men had more separate online sessions, the average female spent five minutes longer on the Internet during each session. (McAuliffe, Wendy 2002)

All Online Groceries

Tesco began to sell groceries online just one year ago. In that time, it has managed to buck the trend of the net industry by making a profit from its online operation and turning itself into the world's biggest home-shopping business. Tesco Direct now boasts an annual turnover of around [pounds]125m. How did it do that? The key to Tesco's success lies in its bricks-and-mortar base. The company had the infrastructure to deliver groceries already in place. When you order from the Tesco Direct site, a member of staff is sent round your local Tesco store to fulfil your shopping list. Unlike many of the other major supermarkets, including Sainsbury's, Tesco hasn't spent money setting up dedicated warehouses for online shopping orders. As a result, the start-up costs for its online business were relatively low. (Robinson, Gail 2000)

Tesco, has had a policy of corporate social commitment since 1988 and has just created a new team to focus on this area. The Computers for Schools project, which turns customer vouchers into equipment, has been running for nine years. Tesco is aiming to raise [pound]2m for Macmillan nurses, its Charity of the Year. It has developed the Schoolnet 2000 website and an interactive CD-ROM, Going for Green, promoting environmental awareness. As a member of the Ethical Trade Initiative, Tesco works with its supply base to enforce the principle of "a fair day's pay for a fair day's ...