The study co-ordinated by the Confederation of Indian Industry covers 318 companies and is the most comprehensive of the recent surveys on e-commerce, according to the researchers, Business and Industrial division of Indian Market Research Bureau. The two other studies on the subject are KPMG's India Electronic Commerce Survey Report covering 116 businesses and PriceWaterhouse Cooper's E-commerce report covering 64 companies.

The study includes households for a perspective on the business-to-consumer e-commerce market. In two years, it has estimated this market to touch Rs16,800 crore on the higher side and Rs 4,200 crore on the lower side, assuming a contribution of Rs 500 to Rs 1000 a month for half or all the households in the socio-economic class A and B. The A and B socio-economic classes account for most of the PC acquisition and are likely to be the major users of e-commerce in the coming years. The survey covered 2087 households in 16 cities.

The major roadblocks to conducting business electronically were identified by 26 per cent of respondents as lack of proper commercial and legal systems. The main concerns were security, lack of proper and secure payment structure, legal issues: clear fix on contracts, liabilities in the digital economy and trust and assurance.

Only 20 per cent of organisations covered under the CIO segment said they were trying to use e-commerce to some extent. Eighty per cent of the industry was still is in the process of gearing up for the show. Sectors which were in the forefront were IT, courier, travel and transport.

Finance, corporateand operations were among the heavy users of IT. Sales, marketing, servicing and distribution were the medium users; and HRD, administration, R&D and production were among the light users. The internet was mainly used for e-mail, file transfer and website monitoring. The website was used for advertising by 84 per cent of respondents. However, 38 per cent said they were selling products and services through the site. Less than 45 per cent had security features like firewalls which are a must for any e-commerce transaction.

Industry opinion on e-commerce growth was rather subdued in comparison with the huge amount of hype being generated. In the next two years, companies saw only 10 per cent to 12 per cent of their annual turnover coming from e-commerce. This would increase to 17 per cent in five years, they felt. However, the survey noted that the service industry which was running high on this note could change the dynamics for the better.

Twenty-one per cent of organisations in the CII survey hadalready implemented ERP, EDI and internet and 31 per cent were planning to do so within the next two years. They respondents were mainly manufacturing companies. Most multinationals rated themselves as good or excellent users of IT. Only 66 per cent of Indian private companies and 67 per cent of banks rated themselves as good/excellent users of IT. Computer companies were in top slab with 97 per cent being good IT users.