Associate professor Margarita Todorova Ph D Head of

Associate professor Margarita Todorova, Ph. D Head of Computer Systems and Technologies Department E-mail: marga_get@abv. bg Finland-IP-04 -2008 1

“St. Cyril and St Methodius” Veliko Turnovo University Finland-IP-04 -2008 2

Academic Staff The University of Veliko Turnovo employs 916 professors and assistant professors. 66% of whom are full-time. 34 % are guest lecturers from other universities and academic institutions, including lecturers from Albania, Austria China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Romania, Spain, The UK, the USA and others. 42% of the teachers are professors (professors and associate professors). In June 2004 Veliko Turnovo was certified with ISO 9001 Finland-IP-04 -2008 3

Principal Units of VTU • • • The Faculty of Philology; The Faculty of History and Jurisprudence; The Faculty of Business; The Faculty of Fine Arts; The Faculty of Education (Pedagogy); The Faculty of Philosophy; The Faculty of Bulgarian Orthodox Theology; College of Pedagogy – Pleven; College of Pedagogy – Vratsa. Finland-IP-04 -2008 4

E-business. 1. The Impact of Internet on Business 2. The e-Commerce in Europe 3. Classification Schema 4. Main Directions of Investigation 5. Some Results of investigation CONCLUSIONS Finland-IP-04 -2008 5

The Impact of Internet on Business • Power Shift to the Customer (the customer becomes the totally informed client); • Global Sales Channel; • Reduced Costs of Buying and Selling; • Always Open for Business; • Reduced Time-to-Market; • Individualization and Adaptation; • Self-Service; • Expansion of the Internet User Demographics; • Physical Distribution; Finland-IP-04 -2008 6

The e-Commerce in Europe Finland-IP-04 -2008 7

In 2005 the volume of e-Commerce in USA was fifteen time larger than that in Europe USA are the obvious leader in the filed of e. Commerce. But the last 2 years we could say that there is great development of e-Commerce in Europe as well Finland-IP-04 -2008 8

What is the situation in Bulgaria? Thanks to: - existence of serious achievements in Europe, - closeness of Bulgaria to Europe in respect of economy, legal regulations, users' behavior, etc. , - steps of Bulgaria toward full integration with Europe, it would be useful to get acquainted with the situation in Europe Finland-IP-04 -2008 9

Consumers' Problems 1. General Observations At that moment in Europe consumers still preferred shopping in the traditional way, despite the proven advantages of e-C. 2. Main Consumers' Problems - novelty of the procedures in Internet ; - the excessive dynamics of the procedures; - the existence of some sites with still not very user-friendly interface Finland-IP-04 -2008 10

Consumers' Problems - the lack of transparency about the suppliers; -the delivery terms and costs are not always acceptable; - the terms for returning goods and the respective costs involved, are also problematic areas - generally in contrast with the traditional commerce; Finland-IP-04 -2008 11

Consumers' Problems -payment is an essential problem – buyers are suspicious towards payment security and confidentiality; some supplyers still do not offer enough guaranty and even information on this issue; -the lack of a "real" shopping atmosphere and advice; -the still high cost of communication for using Internet. Finland-IP-04 -2008 12

3. Classification Schema Two main groups: - goods: - services. Finland-IP-04 -2008 13

Goods: -Books; -Audio/video (mainly CDs and films); -Clothing (clothes, shoes, accessories); -Home and garden; -Computer (hardware and software, games); -Sports and games (apparatus, sports clothes etc. ); -Gifts and jewelry; -Food and drink; -Health (nutrition supplements, cosmetics, body care products); -Telecommunications. Finland-IP-04 -2008 14

Services - Package holidays; - Last minute holidays; - Flights; - Hotel reservations; - Car hire; - Concert tickets and ticket booking; - Gift services (flowers and greeting cards); - Delivery services; - Betting on lottery; - Agency services. Finland-IP-04 -2008 15

Main Directions of Investigation -Ordering/reserving -Receipt of goods/confirmation of service -Returning/canceling Finland-IP-04 -2008 16

Main Questions How does one look for a specific product and how easy/difficult is it to effect the complete transaction? - How long does it take to place an order? - How is the graphic presentation rated? - How good are the textual descriptions (if there any)? - What information is the customer given regarding the supplier? - Are the general terms and conditions of business given? - What methods of payment are offered? - Are delivery times stated? - Is it possible to return goods if not satisfied? What charges are incurred when a service order is cancelled? - Finland-IP-04 -2008 17

Main Questions - Is the customer informed about the additional charges which have to be met and how much they amount to? - Is there a special security system protecting the payment procedure? - Is the customer given a confirmation of the order? - When is the order delivered? - When do customs duties and import turnover taxes have to be paid, and how much do they amount to? - Were there any problems when returning goods? Finland-IP-04 -2008 18

Some Results of Investigation Finland-IP-04 -2008 19

1. Distribution of orders placed with domestic and foreign suppliers Approximately 2/3 of all orders have been placed with domestic suppliers and the rest - with foreign Finland-IP-04 -2008 20

2. Language choice - For some of the orders more than on language has been used, but in every country investigated 100% have used their local language, too. - In UK English has been the only language always used, which is, by the way, quite natural. - In Germany always German has been used, but in 17. 4% of the cases English has been also used, as well as French and Spanish in 6. 4% of the cases. Finland-IP-04 -2008 21

3. Worldwide delivery of goods has been offered in 45. 1% of the 435 transactions evaluated. For the purposes of the research, however, "worldwide" does not mean that goods are actually delivered to every country in the world, but merely that they are delivered to many countries and several continents. Finland-IP-04 -2008 22

Provision of Information This information is systemized in the following groups: Finland-IP-04 -2008 23

1. Delivery times In 56. 8% of all cases such information has been supplied, but with substantial difference between the various countries. Here are the extremes: 100% for UK an Sweden, 12. 5% for Italy. Finland-IP-04 -2008 24

2. Terms for returning goods This information has been supplied for 39. 6% of all transactions, namely: - in 62% of them it has been specified that no returning of the good had been possible in case the customer did not like it; - in 5. 1% - returning possible if only the good was defective; - in 32. 8% no indication of all has been provided. Conclusion – electronic suppliers are not very much inclined to accept back the good already sold. Finland-IP-04 -2008 25

3. Deadlines for returning goods. In 27. 7% of all cases no deadline has been indicated for returning the good if not satisfied. The remaining 72. 3% are broken down as follows: - under 7 days: 0%; - 7 to 14 days: 25%; - 15 to 31 days: 44. 6%; - over 1 month: 2. 7% - only for orders from USA Finland-IP-04 -2008 26

The following table shows the ratio of delivery cost to good’s value. Additional costs as % of the overall cost of the order Cases % No additional costs 8. 3% Up to 10% 8. 3% 10 to 20% 11. 4% Over 20% 72. 0% Finland-IP-04 -2008 27

Purchaser’s registration It has been established that a registration had been required in 26. 5% of all cases – most often in Sweden (80%), very rarely in Germany (17. 4%) and Italy (12. 5%). This is one of the most difficult decisions merchants have to take. On the one hand customer’s registration means collection of important information that could in future help to keep the customer for a long period. On the other hand people are irritated when they are requested more information than strictly necessary. Finland-IP-04 -2008 28

Order confirmation Merchants have realized that purchasers insist on getting confirmation their order has been accepted and will be completed. That is why 80% of them have acknowledged orders’ receipt. Finland-IP-04 -2008 29

Duration of ordering procedure Ordering procedure duration Distribution Up to 10 minutes 64. 7% 11 to 20 minutes 20. 9% 21 to 45 minutes 11. 5% 45 to 60 minutes 1. 5% Over one hour 1. 4% Finland-IP-04 -2008 30

Payment methods offered Payment method Distribution Cash on delivery 10. 1% Check 36. 0% Credit card total 97. 8% Credit card online 93. 5% Credit card offline 37. 4% Installments 1. 4% Other (special cards) 21. 6% Finland-IP-04 -2008 31

Payment method chosen It has been proven that purchasers chose the simplest and fastest method – by credit card online (89. 1%). At the time of the study exceptions have been Germany, Sweden the Netherlands and Portugal, but today the situation is hardly the same Finland-IP-04 -2008 32

Correctness of the invoice Generally the invoice has been practically always (87. 3%) correct. In the rest of the cases one or another element has proved to be incorrect. Finland-IP-04 -2008 33

Security measures with the payment In 87% the merchants have informed their customers about the security measures undertaken. Today this percentage is probably even more higher, taking into account purchasers’ sensibility to this issue and the really high level of security and confidentiality reached Finland-IP-04 -2008 34

Refund on returned goods In 43. 7% the full amount has been returned (in 3 cases even including the post and package costs), 52. 3% have received a reduced refund, in some case no refund has been given. It the latter case most often (88. 6%) the merchant has not given explanations Finland-IP-04 -2008 35

Have the goods been delivered In 80. 9% of all cases the purchase has reached the customer, in 18. 6% - it has not. With the creation of traditions on the emarket, most probably the non-delivery will practically disappear. Finland-IP-04 -2008 36

Correctness of delivery A delivery is considered to be correct in case it is exact (what had been ordered - has arrived), it is complete (everything ordered has been delivered) and intact. This has been observed in 93. 9% of all local cases and in 96. 5% of the cases with orders from abroad Finland-IP-04 -2008 37

Delivery time Country Local average delivery time (days) Germany 9. 2 15. 7 Belgium 12. 3 11. 5 France 15. 5 9. 2 UK 4. 1 11. 8 7. 2 15. 3 Netherlands 14. 1 27. 6 Sweden 13. 6 16. 3 Italy 15. 7 10. 4 Portugal 11. 5 13. 8 Spain Finland-IP-04 -2008 Average delivery time from abroad 38

Internet penetration for Bulgaria In absolute expression the Internet users, during 2005, will be about 1 200 000, that is 16% of the country population. Finland-IP-04 -2008 39

Evolution of E-business From: PC-centric models (tethered) To: Evolution Finland-IP-04 -2008 Person-centric models (mobile) 40

THANK YOU FOR ATTANTION ! You are welcome to Veliko Turnovo University! Finland-IP-04 -2008 41