Research from
Bull Information Systems shows
that the rise of e-commerce may have an influence on whether or
not the UK adopts the single European currency.
28 per cent of firms surveyed said they thought
e-commerce would increase the likelihood of their company
trading with Europe in the short term. 30 per cent
said they thought that e-commerce would make
joining the Euro more necessary for the UK.
“The Internet and e-commerce are forcing us all to change
the way we do business,” said Tim Lines, general manager,
Private Sector, at Bull Information Systems.
“If it werent for e-commerce Britain could effectively
go on ignoring the whole Euro issue, but if UK businesses
want to compete in the global Internet market then they
need to address their stance on the Euro now.”
Exactly why the UK has to give up its sovereignty in
order to sell products on the Internet is not explained
by Bull. Tim Lines goes on to say that fully 65 per cent
of respondents believed the US dollar will more important
than the Euro in the future.
56 per cent of respondents said that their companies
did not use e-commerce to trade with either suppliers or
customers. Those who were already using the Internet
said they had problems with monitoring their trade,
while a quarter of respondents said they could not
say how much of their business was being conducted
electronically.
Bull uses what it calls a unique EuroEdge methodology
to address the various aspects of the Euro consultancy
projects it undertakes for clients.
For the research on which this story is based, Bull
conducted 200 interviews during the summer with business
people in the private sector, by telephone.
