Businesses in Ireland were unprepared for rise of e-commerce

Just 37% of businesses planned an increase in e-commerce investment this year - Equinix survey finds

Trade

Maurice Mortell, Equinix

Organisations in Ireland were unprepared for the central role e-commerce would play in doing business in 2020, according to research from Equinix.

Conducted before the Covid-19 pandemic forced businesses to move operations online, the Tech Trends Survey highlighted that that the majority of medium to large enterprises in Ireland did not view investment in e-commerce capabilities as a priority.

The survey, which involved 103 IT decision-makers in Ireland, found that towards the end of last year, just 37% of enterprises were planning to increase investment in their e-commerce capabilities over the following 12-month period. While only 31% of IT leaders in Ireland said they believed blockchain – which can make digital payments faster and more secure – would be essential to their organisation within the next three years. 

However, the survey showed that digital transformation was on the agenda for many, as 68% of organisations surveyed claimed that improving customer and user experience online was a top priority. 

“Covid-19 has shown us that digital transformation is now so central to the global economy,” said Maurice Mortell, managing director for Ireland, Equinix. “Enterprises can fail if they don’t, or are unable to, digitally evolve. Of course, none of us foresaw how 2020 would unfold, but the world was moving towards a more digital way of doing business long before Covid-19. And while no one anticipates a pandemic, unexpected events can and do happen. Organisations must therefore continually look at trends and respond to them quickly and appropriately. Ensuring an organisation has the right digital infrastructure in place is one of the best ways business leaders can protect it against the unexpected.”

TechCentral Reporters

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