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Survey Shows Increasing Adoption of Higher Levels of eBusiness among SMEs

Local SMEs adopting higher levels of eBusiness are steadily on the increase, according to a survey jointly conducted by the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) and the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, HKSAR Government.

The "Survey on eBusiness Adoption in Hong Kong" was conducted annually to study the development and deployment of eBusiness in the local business sector, in which 97.7% of the establishments* are SMEs. In this survey, a total of 2,008 local establishments were interviewed by telephone from July to December 2005. Their e-adoption mode was classified into six ascending levels ranging from 0 to 5, representing 'No Adoption', 'Show Intention', 'Basic Adoption', 'Prospecting', 'Business Integration' and 'Business Transformation' accordingly.

Commenting on the latest findings, Ms Wendy Wong, Principal Consultant (Strategic Information & Intelligence) of HKPC, said, "It is encouraging to see that the percentage of companies adopting higher levels of eBusiness ('Prospecting', 'Business Integration' and 'Business Transformation' levels) has increased to 24.2%, compared to 20.5% in the last survey (December 2004). The increase was mainly recorded in the 'Prospecting' group (up from 11.7% to 16.2%) who have their own web pages to provide company information and use e-mail for communication."

"A point to note is that companies having e-mail communications only (level 2 of 'Basic Adoption') have decreased from 35.2% to 30.4%. It indicates that more companies have moved up to higher levels of eBusiness adoption realizing the efficiency of using the Internet," said Ms Wong.

Among different businesses, the retail sector has both the highest percentage of level 0 (70.5%) and level 5 (0.9%) companies. The trading sector is most receptive to eBusiness with 72.1% of companies having some form of e-adoption. The manufacturing sector has the highest percentage of level 3 users (35.3%), who have their own web pages and use e-mail communications.

"This survey also found that the shift from using dial-up to broadband continues for faster connection to the Internet, with over 90% of the establishments using the broadband connections," Ms Wong said.

In addition, this survey found that companies are more aware of the importance of providing timely information through e-channels, with 50.3% of the establishments updating the content of their company websites within one month. In terms of content, majority of the establishments post 'company information' (99.7%) and 'product/service catalogue' (96.2%), as well as provide 'online inquiry service' (77.1%) on the web. The surge in the provision of 'online customer support service' to 25.8% (from 6.5% in the last survey) reflects that companies are keen to shorten their response time with the help of the Internet for enhanced customer service.

Of the key benefits experienced in adopting eBusiness, 'build up image', 'offer a new sales channel', 'open up the world market' and 'enhance work efficiency' were cited by SMEs.

The survey, on the other hand, found that 43.5% of the establishments in Hong Kong do not have any form of e-adoption (level 0 of 'No Intention'). Majority of them (98.3%) cited 'no business need' as the main reason for not adopting eBusiness.

For details of the "Survey on eBusiness Adoption in Hong Kong 2005", please contact HKPC's Ms Wendy Wong at tel. (852) 2788 5825 or (852) 2788 5815, or e-mail to sfwong@hkpc.org.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Ms Betty Lee
General Manager
Corporate Communications & Events
Tel: (852) 2788 5895
Fax: (852) 2788 5056
E-mail: justina@hkpc.org
Website: https://www.hkpc.org

1 March 2006

* This survey covers local establishments that are active in business operation.