Online B2B revenues to top $820bn
Worldwide business-to-business e-commerce revenues will soar to $823.4bn this year, a jump of 74% from the year earlier, according to a new report.
E-business research aggregator eMarketer also predicted that number will nearly triple to $2.4 trillion by 2004.
eMarketer researched and interviewed online exchanges, including Covisint, Exostar, ChemConnect, e2open and GlobalNetXchange, and released its findings in a 127-page report.
Steve Butler, an analyst at eMarketer, said despite last year’s difficult economic climate, many companies pressed on with their e-business initiatives.
‘Leading EDI vendors and industry-backed exchanges are currently helping larger enterprises bring their smaller suppliers online, setting the stage for significant e-commerce growth,’ he said.
The research firm reported the total cost of ownership for a private, EDI-based exchange, over a three-year period, could run as high as $185m.
Last year, e-commerce accounted for less than 2%, or $306.12b, of all B2B trade in the US and only 11 per cent of corporations report fully implemented e-business strategies, according to the report.
But eMarketer said that number is also expected to grow, which in turn will generate more business.
The study said that by early last year, there were more than 2200 Internet-based marketplaces worldwide.
In addition, the report rated business analysis, content management and CRM as the top three spending priorities for e-business managers.
While eMarketer predicts the revenue increase to $823.4b, Forrester Research predicts that number will soar to $2.061 trillion, Gartner Group predicts a jump to $1.929 trillion and AMR Research forecasts $1.375 trillion in B2B revenues this year.