That's 14 times bigger than the estimates for the amount of home shopping likely to be done on-line. Europe could pull ahead In Europe, businesses are lagging behind, but they're expected to catch up soon. In fact, European companies may overtake their American rivals, and end up doing proportionally more of their trading on the web. And the figures for global business are truly staggering. Rival web markets vie for business to serve the world's multi-billion dollar petrochemical industry Buyers on the web get a wider range of suppliers, more choice and lower prices.
Suppliers get access to new buyers, and can spend less securing their trade.
And because the web brings their businesses closer, and they get a better understanding of each other's needs, both buyers and sellers will be able to cut the amount of stock they have to keep. GM and Ford, the big American car makers, were the first to move. They've now been joined in the e-trading world by DaimlerChrysler, Renault, BMW and Volkswagen. And shopkeepers could also be among the big winners. Selling food and goods directly to consumers will not do much for their profit figures, but dealing with their own suppliers on the web will cut costs.