E-commerce in the printing industry

1. Overview The rapidly growing Internet has affected almost all industries. For South Korea, the Internet has a wider impact. By the end of 2000, the number of people on the Internet will reach 20 million. With the rapid growth of Korean mobile phone users (the current penetration rate has exceeded 50%), Internet users will grow further. This can not but make people raise such an important but basic question: what kind of role does the Internet play in the development of the Asia-Pacific region? For customers, the Internet can be seen as a place for information and shopping; but for small and medium-sized companies, the role of the Internet is superficial, and it has no significant impact on its own fundamental benefits. However, unlike the limited Internet applications of customers, various industries are changing their views on the Internet and gradually realize their considerable benefits. Many industries, especially the printing and news industry, are recognizing the potential value of their BtoB market. Therefore, people's understanding, acceptance, and practice of successful BtoB strategies are based on the understanding and application of the Internet. According to this logic, people must face up to the application of the Internet in the printing industry. The purpose of this article is to analyze the market position of BtoB and strengthen its influence. In a broader sense, it is to promote its influence and application in the printing industry. The focus of this article is to give a possible development trend of BtoB, and answer the printing industry, especially regarding Asia's BtoB applications. 2. The status quo and future of the Internet 2.1 The number of Internet users The number of Internet users has increased significantly in the past 2 to 3 years and is still growing at a high rate. This phenomenon strongly suggests that the traditional economic model is shifting to a new economic model, and that all companies must strive to align with the new management mechanism. There are some differences in the analysis results provided by these institutions that analyze the status of Internet users worldwide. This is mainly due to the different definitions of Internet users. In 1998, MCI reported that the users of the Internet are 130 million, and by 2000 it will reach 200 million. IDC( ) reports that the number of Internet users was 150 million at the end of 1997 and that it will reach 1 billion by the year 2000. According to figures from the Industrial Standards Association, Internet users were 140 million in 1998, 196 million in 1999, and 5.2 billion by 2003. In November 1999, Almanac announced that Internet users have reached 490 million, accounting for 7.9% of the world's population, and will reach 11.8% by 2005. It is estimated that 82% of Internet users come from 15 developed countries. There are 25 countries with more than 10% of Internet users in the world. Based on absolute numbers, South Korea ranks 10th. According to the BCG (Boston Advisory Association), the number of Internet users in Asia will reach five times today, reaching 370 million by 2005, mainly because Internet users in China will have a substantial increase. In 1999, the total number of Internet users in Asia is expected to reach 66 million, ranking first in Japan with 20 million users, followed by China, Australia, South Korea, and Taiwan. The BGC predicts that by 2005 China will surpass Japan, followed by India, South Korea and Taiwan; 85% of Asian users will be concentrated in these 5 countries and regions. Internet companies are considered to be a real company built on the Internet. Some departments separate network companies from traditional enterprises, and some departments mix network companies with general enterprises. By the mid-1990s, these online businesses had proved to be practical and increasingly becoming a very important business branch. Although many organizations reported that their markets have grown, Internet-based companies, including those engaged in e-commerce, have achieved significant growth. Internet Commerce Internet commerce is a legal business established on the Internet. Some of these commerce are generated with the advent of the Internet. Parts that are not online are now integrated into the new network environment. As early as the mid-1990s it proved to be feasible and will become an important part of the business. Although many organizations have differences in the report on the expansion of the market, it is certain that Internet-related businesses, including e-commerce, have seen great development. 3. E-commerce 3.1 The emergence of E-commerce E-commerce was born in 1989 at the American Research Center. LAWRENCE LIVERMORE Laboratories first used the term "electronic commerce" in the U.S. government's military program. Then the private sector began using this name. The initial phase of e-commerce research focuses on electronic data exchange. In fact, a valuable electronic data network is established between the enterprise and the enterprise (BtoB) and between the enterprise and the government (BtoG). Due to the rapid development of Internet commerce, these studies have been fully implemented soon. In 1989, a Swiss research center engaged in nuclear work developed an experimental device through which large amounts of data can be transmitted on the Internet. This project is called the World Wide Web. In 1991, the name began to be used in public places. In 1993, the first web browser, MOSAIC, was released. Based on these tasks, e-commerce began to develop. In addition, the popularization and application of personal computers has also created conditions for the company's contact with customers. 3.2 Types of E-Commerce E-commerce is the transaction that takes place over the current network. According to different trading partners, e-commerce can be divided into several categories: BtoB (businesses and enterprises), BtoC (businesses and users), CtoB (users and businesses), CtoC (user-to-user), and GtoB (government-to-business) ), GtoC (Government to Consumer). In these e-commerce, it is more worth emphasizing the e-commerce between enterprises and enterprises. There are several reasons: The BtoB market is more than 12 times the BtoC market, and the BtoB market is growing at an alarming 86.6% annually. In contrast, BtoC companies like Amazon have a much smaller growth rate. The Forrest Institute predicts that the transaction volume in the e-commerce market will increase from 109 million U.S. dollars in 1999 to 130 billion U.S. dollars in 2003, of which BtoB will account for 92 percent of its total amount. In order to facilitate the development of the company, attract new customers, and strengthen the contact with customers and suppliers, more and more suppliers are engaged in this solution. The network provides companies with a World Wide Web-based switching platform. Companies close to global users will have a huge potential financial and economic market. Companies such as VerticalNet, which have invested limited energy in the international market, have 40% of their overseas customers connected to each other via the Internet. Taking the U.S. market as an example, BtoB is quite different from the BtoC market size. The market size is evaluated by dividing the GTP value by the output value of each industry and the growth rate of the e-commerce ratio of each industry. According to the Forrest research report, under the current economic structure, 60% of commodities are exchanged between companies and companies, 30% are exchanges between companies and customers, and 10% are exchanged with governments. of. Due to the huge potential market, more and more network companies are trying to enter the BtoB market. Arther Andeson Consulting Co., Ltd. reported that South Korea’s BtoB market output will reach US$2.436 billion by 2003. Samsung expects this market to reach $2.858 billion by 2003. 4. Trends in the printing industry To predict the impact of the Internet on the printing industry, the US market can be used as a benchmark for evaluating the development speed of potential markets. These studies were done by Raine because there is no research on the Asian market. The title of the report is the transition of the printing industry to the Internet: the first peak (1999). Companies have recognized the importance of the Internet and, more importantly, they have realized that they need to adjust to the new corporate environment. So many companies have already transferred companies that are not on the Internet to the Internet or are making this transition (in fact, some companies are partly online and some are not online). More importantly, many companies are gradually realizing the importance of using the BtoB market. To be at the forefront of this transition phase, the printing industry must quickly transition to a new business model. Unlike the manufacturing industry, both sales and management departments must convert to the Internet at the same time. For the printing industry, there are two BtoB markets, one for print related to the industry and the other for print products related to companies outside the industry. The former reduces costs by effectively managing the printing process, while the latter's profits are directly related to sales and returns. According to the PLA (American Printing Industry) report, in 1997, the United States had 52,000 printing companies, 1 million employees, and the market output value reached 142 billion US dollars. According to the report of the Korean government, there were 16,816 companies and 75,000 employees in the Korean printing market in 1997. The total market output value reached 2.9 billion U.S. dollars. As shown in the chart, the increase in the US market is lower than the increase in sales. In the past five years, the after-tax profit of the printing industry in the United States has increased from 3% to 3.5%. Although sales have increased, profits have decreased, causing instability in the company. Therefore, Ranaine Consulting stated that a fundamental change must be made to the existing business model. PLA has been studying the printing industry in the United States for decades. It gives two reasons for the reduction of profits. 1) As a result of technological changes, the market has changed from a production type to a business type. 2) The printing and publishing industry is changing from a single printing industry to a multi-media industry. According to Gordon Black's report, RCI “Printing House and the Internet (1998)” discusses the issue of full adoption of the Internet in the printing industry. According to this report, many companies in the United States use the Internet as a communication and production tool. 60% of printing companies provide file conversion services via the Internet. However, only 40% of the printing related companies have web sites. Of these, 80% are large and medium-sized companies (companies with more than 250 employees). Research shows that by 2001, 80% of companies will have web sites. However, the web site is basically used for company advertising and is not used for real e-commerce. Many companies require the printing industry to conduct e-commerce on the Internet. Companies whose companies need printed materials need to print materials but not print-based companies. For example, magazines, its main business is not printing but high profits through print media. These companies have EGP (enterprise resource planning) systems or other systems such as EDI, MRP, CRM, INTRA/EXTRA NET. They want to print via the Internet. Related companies reduce product costs. In order to understand the impact of BtoB e-commerce on the printing industry, RCI analyzed the needs of 1,000 large companies. These requirements show that ECP is the only way for companies to successfully sell. Material Type Product Type Business Concern Content Market Size Necessity Items Business Cards, Envelopes, etc. Repetitive Purchases, Various Departments To Purchase Goods 17 Billion Business Plan Sales Promotional Atlas Atlas Propaganda Material, High Added-Value, Professional Department's Purchasing Power 35 Billion Material Packaging, Labeling , manuals and other products, product codes, professional departments to buy 35 billion newspapers, magazines, other publications terminal products, large-scale contracts, complex printing process 38 billion other calendars, postcards to buy similar products like products, retail products, small The scale of the company's 15 billion total of 142 billion potential BtoB e-commerce market is expected to reach 70 billion US dollars, equivalent to half of the United States currently printing market output value (142 billion US dollars). RCI conservatively estimates that the total BtoB e-commerce market in the printing industry will reach 37 billion U.S. dollars. The Internet will increase the efficiency of the ECP market by more than 50%. Therefore, the ECP market will all be transferred to the Internet in 2 to 3 years. The vast majority of Asian companies are large users of the Internet. The Asian printing industry must keep up with the development trend of e-commerce and must provide better services to customers. PODi estimates that through BtoB transactions, orders for printed materials will reach 14.7 billion pages, and orders for printed materials through BtoC will reach 16 billion pages. There may be some changes in these data in different regions, but it is clear that the BtoB market is quite large. The definition of e-commerce is constantly changing with the development and transformation of the market. According to the e-commerce model, e-commerce can be divided into the following situations: buyers, sellers, and middlemen. RCI cited by M. Swahney