Multi-Client Study

The Impact of E-Commerce on the Food and Agribusiness Industries:  A Roadmap to E-Commerce Strategies

Objectives of the Study
Introduction
Questions Answered by the Study
Outline
Ordering Information

Objectives

  • Assess the impact of e-commerce on the food and agribusiness industries.
  • Provide information and methodology that will allow a food and agribusiness company to evaluate its competitive position in an e-commerce environment.
  • Provide technical and strategic information for a company to take initial steps toward an e-commerce strategy.
  • Provide a food and agribusiness company with a roadmap to implement and to manage a successful e-commerce business architecture.

Introduction

The emergence of Internet commerce (e-commerce) is posed to affect the existing structure of food and agribusiness industries. New Internet technologies allow business to reach global customers more easily, and allow new entrants to the industry from unrelated fields. At the same time, these technologies also force a reconfiguration of industry value chains. The established industry's strategic dimensions are certainly shaken by the uncertainty of new technology and knowledge-base entrants. The new entrants can easily reach first mover advantages and corner the industry.

Although the specific characteristics of the food and agribusiness industries (perishability, standardization, and bulkiness, to name a few) limit somehow the extent of e-commerce applications, nonetheless e-commerce still offers substantial opportunities to reconfigure industry value chains, reach new customers on a global basis, and gain efficiencies by implementing supply management systems.

Several other characteristics of the food and agribusiness industries, like player fragmentation, high demand fluctuations and the existence of many distribution channels, provide the incentive to implement industry-wide e-commerce strategies that will consolidate and optimize the supply chain, decrease the response time and increase the geographic reach of supply, resulting in smoother demand fluctuations. Estimates by Goldman Sachs size the current market for food and agribusiness at USD 18 billion, with a projection to grow to USD 135 billion by 2004.

This strategic study will provide food and agribusiness companies with the essential information to design and implement their e-commerce strategies. Any e-commerce strategy needs to bridge the fields of business strategy and information technology (IT) to result in consistent and feasible implementation. This study first briefly reviews the basic concepts of e-commerce; second, moves to identify the economics of e-commerce and how it affects the food and agribusiness industries; then provides a methodology for analyzing the impact of e-commerce on your company's business. The study also reviews existing and upcoming applications to build your company's e-commerce architecture, and we conclude by providing a roadmap to design your e-commerce strategy.

Questions Answered by This Study

  • How does e-commerce change the competitive environment in my industry?
  • What is the likely impact of e-commerce in my industry? Where is the evidence? What is driving e-commerce adoption?
  • How can my company achieve new efficiencies by implementing an e-commerce strategy ?
  • Which steps do I need to follow to craft an e-business strategy for my company?

Outline

Introduction:  E-Commerce Possibilities

  • Global Marketplace: New Developments and Impact for Food and Agribusiness
  • Participate in Supply Chain Integration
  • New marketing strategies:
  • Larger market reach
  • Additional sales channels
  • Targeted marketing
  • Customization of products and services
  • Improved customer service
  • Buying convenience
  • Use of intelligent agents
  • Online advertising
  • Reduced purchasing cycles
  • Flexible pricing alternatives


E-Agents

  • Electronic Clearinghouses
  • Marketplace Concentrators
  • Virtual Trading Communities
  • Infomediaries: Information Brokers
  • Transaction Brokers
  • Multimedia Content Delivery
  • Online Software Resellers


E-Commerce Economics

E-commerce Models

  • Business groupings
  • Retail e-commerce
  • B2B e-commerce
  • B2C e-commerce

Types of e-marketplaces

  • Catalog (fixed price)
  • Auction (dynamic prices: competitive bidding or bid-ask)
  • Exchange (dynamic prices: competitive bidding or bid-ask)
  • Community (price results from aggregation of buyers)

Revenue Models

  • Transaction fees
  • Cost saving compensation
  • Advertisement fees
  • Membership fees

Cost Analysis

  • Cost efficient generation of new global marketing opportunities
  • Reduction of time-to-market
  • Decreased cost of customer attention
  • Cost structure of supporting customers online
  • Reduced procurement cost

Logistics

  • Supply chain management
  • Inventories and new warehousing strategies
  • Out-service options


E-Business Architecture

  • Basic Approaches
  • Core Components
  • E-business Tools:
    • Java
    • Application Servers
    • Open Market Transact
    • BroadVision One-to-One
    • webMethods B2B Integration Server
    • Ariba Operations Resource Management
    • XML for Next-generation Web Applications
  • Choosing among e-business applications
  • Electronic payment systems
  • Supporting an e-business site
  • Implementation costs


E-Business Strategy

Formulating an E-business Strategy

  • Barriers to E-business
  • International E-business
  • Managing the E-business Change Process
  • Who Is Developing E-agribusiness Strategies?
  • Identifying New Opportunities
  • Developing an E-agribusiness Strategy
  • Quantifying ROI
  • The Importance of Scalability
  • The Future of E-agribusiness

Case Studies of E-agribusiness Sites


E-Business Analytical Model: How do I evaluate the impact of e-business on my company?

  • Summary Analytical Model
  • Step-by-step Evaluation Model
  • Strategic E-commerce Action Plan
  • Roadmap to Implement An E-Commerce Strategy


E-Business Survey of EU and US Food and Agribusiness Companies

To Order:  If you are interested in ordering this study, please download, fill out, and fax us the following order form:  Order Form (MS Word).  Instructions are included in the order form.  Please contact us if you have any problems opening it.

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Last Updated on February 23, 2001.