INMA_A01.QXD

the organisational buying unit amongst their customers is also important for marketers.
Although the Internet seems to be used by many companies we also need to ask whether
it reaches the right people in the buying unit. The answer is ‘not necessarily’ – access is
not available to all employees. This can be an issue if marketing to particular types of staff
who have shared PC access such as healthcare professionals for example.

2 Influenced online

In B2B marketing, the high level of access is consistent with a high level of using the
Internet to identify suppliers.
Figure 2.21 indicates that for many companies the Internet is important in identify-
ing online suppliers, with the majority identifying some suppliers online, especially in
the larger companies.

3 Purchase online

The DTI (2004) survey reveals that there is a large variation between how businesses in
different countries order online (Figure 2.21) with the figure substantially higher in
some countries such as Sweden and Germany in comparison to Italy and France for
example. This shows the importance of understanding differences in the environment
for e-commerce in different countries since this will dramatically affect the volume of
leads and orders.

CUSTOMERS

Figure 2.21Percentage of businesses that order online
Source: DTI (2004)

Percentage

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Swe

Key

2002 2003 2004

70

Swe

66

72

44

Ger

(^6259)
50
UK
54
59
56
USA
63
58
47
Can
(^5857)
38
ROI
(^5453)
43
Aus
45
52
35
Ita
36
41
28
Jap
(^4140)
30
Fra
36
33
SKo
30
33
International mean 51%