In OECD countries, few businesses operate without using some form of ICTs. Nevertheless, the extent to which ICT tools are integrated into business processes varies across countries, with key explanatory factors including differences in firm and industry composition.
In 2018, Finland had the largest proportion of enterprises using cloud computing (65%). Meanwhile, use of cloud services in Germany (22%) was lower than the OECD average (30%), but German businesses had the highest uptake of customer relationship management software (CRM), alongside the Netherlands (both 47%). Korea had the highest proportion of enterprises using radio frequency identification (RFID, 42%), but the lowest uptake of Big data analytics by businesses (3%).
On average, 23% of OECD enterprises made sales via e-commerce in 2017 - an increase of only 4 percentage points since 2009. Large differences among countries remain, however. In New Zealand, half of enterprises sell online, while fewer than one-in-ten do so in Mexico. Differences in the definition of e-sales used may explain some of the variation between countries but in many cases a key cause is likely to be differences in the prevalence of large firms relative to smaller firms in some economies (OECD, 2017a). On average, 43% of larger firms engaged in e-sales in 2018, compared to only 21% of small enterprises.
Enterprises can use various tools and technologies to support their e-commerce activities. Ad hoc tabulations from the 2018 European Community Survey of ICT Usage in Enterprises were used on a pilot basis to investigate aspects of digital maturity in firms. This included a number of relatively advanced website features – the possibility for visitors to customise or design online goods or services, the ability to track the status of orders placed, or offering personalised content on the website for recurrent visitors – as well as businesses’ use of online advertising services. In all countries except Denmark, the majority of businesses do not use any of these functions. While, on average, 32% of businesses make some use of them, only 6% of firms pursue relatively more sophisticated online sales strategies combining one or more of these website features with online advertising. In countries with especially high Internet uptake, the share is much higher - 12% of firms in the Netherlands and 11% in Denmark and Sweden.
The usefulness of such features and services varies with business size and the geography of the market they serve (as well as other factors such as the nature of products offered). In particular, small businesses, focussed on serving local markets may see little need to sell or actively market online even if they have an online presence. By contrast, on average 14% of large firms offer one or more such website features and use online advertising services, with over 25% of large firms in Denmark, Sweden and Belgium doing so.
