A little perspective on B2B in the eWorld:
Business E-Commerce Will Increase to $1.38 Trillion by 2003
Bloomberg News
August 23, 1999, 12:27 p.m. PT
Business E-Commerce Will Increase to $1.38 Trillion by 2003
Framingham, Massachusetts, Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Business-to-business electronic commerce will boom to $1.38 trillion by 2003 from just $30 million last year, according to an International Data Corp. study.
Companies are just starting to build Internet-based systems that allow them to buy goods and services from other businesses online, said IDC, a Framingham, Massachusetts-based research company. The systems allow companies to order items such as office supplies with a click of a computer mouse.
Internet commerce between companies will also benefit the companies that make the software that allows these orders to be placed over the global computer network, IDC's study found. Spending on such programs, made by companies such as Ariba Inc., will surge to $5.3 billion by 2003 from $147 million last year, the study concluded.
'More and more businesses are beginning to understand (this software) can deliver tangible results to their bottom line,' said Albert Pang, manager of IDC's electronic commerce software research program, in a statement.
Ariba, whose shares have quadrupled since its initial public offering June 23, said it's now processing purchases valued at more than $100 billion a year. The company and its competitors are able to save customers money because the software cuts paperwork and channels bulk orders to preferred suppliers.
Companies using such software will save up to $103 billion by 2003, the IDC study concluded.
Other business-to-business electronic commerce software makers include Project Software & Development Inc., a Bedford, Massachusetts-based company, and Walnut Creek, California-based Commerce One Inc.
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