. Table 8: Outcomes Attributed to E-Commerce Use
Outcome
No. of Firms
Changed suppliers
4
Increased international suppliers and customers
3
Increased revenues/profits
5
Source: Enterprise Level Interviews 2002; N=12
5.5
Frequency of Use of Network Applications in B2B E-commerce
The garment firms in the Kenya sample were using e-mail regularly to contact customers and suppliers
and to accept product orders. Four firms were ‘always’ using e-mail to maintain contact with buyers,
while eight firms were ‘frequently’ using e-mail to maintain such contacts. (See table 8). Four firms were
‘always’ using e-mail to place or accept product orders while five firms were doing so ‘frequently’.
Table 9 Frequency of Use of Network Applications in B2B E-commerce
E-mail
Always
Frequently
Seldom
Never
To maintain contact with buyers
5
7
0
0
To place or accept orders
4
5
0
3
To get general information about input markets
1
6
3
2
To obtain general information about product market
0
5
5
2
To obtain information about specific customer
0
4
5
3
To obtain information about specific suppliers
0
6
4
2
To accept orders from international business customers
1
3
2
6
To place orders with international suppliers
1
3
2
6
To accept orders from international business customers
0
1
2
7
To place orders from international suppliers
0
1
1
10
To accept orders from domestic business customers
0
0
2
10
To accept orders from international business customers
0
2
0
10
To place orders with domestic suppliers
1
1
0
10
To place orders with international suppliers
1
0
1
10
WWW
Extranet
Electronic Data Interchange
Source: Enterprise Level Interviews 2002; N=12
Use of the web was somewhat less frequent, but nearly all respondents reported using it at least
‘occasionally’ or ‘seldom’ (see table 9). Only two firms had ‘never’ used the web. The remaining eight
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