REPORT SAYS FULFILLMENT OF ORDERS IS A BARRIER TO E-COMMERCE

   Fulfillment of e-commerce orders is seen by 41 percent of companies as a barrier to their e-commerce development, according to a survey published by DHL Worldwide Express.
   The survey of 621 companies in 12 countries also showed that web security remains the major barrier to e-commerce for 69 percent of companies globally. However, nine out of 10 companies in the U.S. and Japan do not consider web security as a major barrier, the report said.
   Among the bad news on e-commerce order fulfillment, DHL’s survey found that 25 percent of companies "have yet to define their e-commerce fulfillment policy" and 20 percent of all e-commerce deliveries are late.
   "In the exciting race to sell on-line, many businesses are neglecting the so-called ‘boring’ or ‘mundane’ factors such as development of end-to-end fulfillment strategies that deliver purchases on time, to customers’ expectations," said Etienne de Longvilliers, global e-business director at DHL Worldwide Express.
   DHL said that e-commerce is currently a national marketplace, as 92 percent of orders are shipped within the country of purchase. But it expects the market to go international, as one in three companies are predicting increased export sales as a result of e-commerce.