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u-Commerce has the potential to transform the business landscape. Although there will undoubtedly be risks for early movers, the payoff for companies that get the change right could be substantial. In fact, our research shows that businesses that moved early with e-Commerce were also the most successful with it. By taking advantage of u-Commerce opportunities now, some businesses are already positioning themselves to overcome the impact of economic recession and build real long-term competitive advantage.

Many businesses are currently facing the threat of global economic recession. For some months now, we have seen a growing number of profit warnings and increased job losses, particularly in the high-technology sector. The impression that many are left with is that now is not the right time to invest in their e-Commerce operations.

But nothing could be further from the truth. A majority of businesses are currently increasing their investment in e-Commerce, and the opportunities are still huge. Despite economic uncertainty, more than 80 percent of executives in Europe, Japan and the United States expect e-Commerce to deliver more change over the next three years than it has over the past three.

The findings are part of a recent Accenture study, “The Unexpected eEurope”. The study, which draws on interviews with 840 executives in 25 countries, is the first in-depth analysis of executive attitudes toward e-Commerce since the onset of the current economic slowdown. It finds a surprisingly high level of interest in the adoption of new technologies to reduce costs, improve services and thereby overcome the impact of global economic recession.

Future opportunities for change will come not only from PC-based wireline e-Commerce—now often referred to as “traditional” e-Commerce—but also from new forms of commerce, including wireless, television, voice and silent commerce. In fact, 83 percent of the executives in the Accenture study expect these new waves of change to provide more business opportunities over the next three years than traditional e-Commerce.

Businesses across the globe will substantially increase their adoption of new forms of e-Commerce over the next three years (see Figure 1).

• Wireless commerce, combining wireless technology with mobile phones, laptop computers and other hand-held devices, will increase dramatically. Despite recent doubts about the demand for wireless services, 52 percent of executives report that their companies will pursue significant wireless commerce opportunities. This is more than three times as many companies as are doing so today.
  
  
• Voice commerce, including automated speech-recognition, text-to-speech and voice-identification technologies, will provide a low-cost natural interface to electronic channels. Thirty percent of businesses, five times as many as today, will use voice commerce within the next three years.
  
  
• Television commerce, which takes advantage of digital television’s capacity for interactivity, will bring e-Commerce into every home. Twenty-eight percent of the companies in our study will use television commerce within the next three years, a sevenfold increase over the current four percent.
  
  
• Silent commerce refers to the business opportunities arising from the ability to use tiny, inexpensive microprocessors and tags to track and monitor products and pieces of equipment, as well as to increase the level of automation in the manufacturing processes. Executives report that the use of silent commerce technology will increase sixfold over the next three years. The enabling technologies are not new; what is new is the affordability of attaching these microprocessors and tags to everyday objects, which rapidly increases the number of economically attractive applications.

The global economic slowdown is placing pressure on companies to reduce costs while retaining and maximizing the value of their existing customers. Under these economic conditions, businesses are being forced to look to u-Commerce as a critical enabler of innovation and competitive advantage.

Far from slowing the pace of innovation, our research shows that despite the threat of recession, 82 percent of executives believe that their companies will depend more on innovation over the next three years than they do today. u-Commerce will spur innovation by enabling:

• Improved operating efficiency. By giving remote workers the ability to remain in continuous contact with central databases, u-Commerce will increase employee efficiency.
  
  
• Enhanced customer services. u-Commerce will extend the reach of low-cost electronic channels beyond the PC, to the telephone, television and other personal devices.
  
  
• Increased service personalization. By allowing services to be tailored to the individual user’s needs and location, u-Commerce will increase the personalization of services.
  
  
• Continuous supply chain connectivity. u-Commerce will enable continuous connectivity between customers, employees and everyday objects. The Accenture study provides more than a dozen examples of how businesses are already using silent commerce to make operating processes more efficient, improve employee safety and enhance security.

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