"Internet is the easiest way to get a global presence"
"We sell software which is delivered and supported over the internet. It would be very difficult to locate and deal with customers through any other medium"
"The web site provides us with a mechanism for picking up international end users which we can then pass to our dealer network, it's our only method other than annual trade shows of promoting our products to end users overseas."
"Our web site has enabled us to reach the European multimedia market at a fraction of the cost of a direct mail campaign. Having our training guide on-line allows our overseas clients to reach an informed decision in less time than with convensional mailing."
"Still difficult to convince customers that we exist as a real business and that we are not just operating out of a living room! Also it would help if the large amount of timewasters on the net realised the work that is involved in responding!"
"We are a hotel and do not export goods, main internet issue is security"
"All my business is conducted across the internet and location is irrelevant"
"Sales to other european countries (except Ireland) have now completely ceased, as have sales enquiries. Due solely to the high cost of £. "
"Today 1 sept we have been approached by an Egyptian company who requires design work done. The MD emailed me after seeing our website."
"Hasnt really taken off yet. N.Ireland remains a difficult market but things are looking more positive for 1998."
"I find the inertia between people seeing and, on their account, enjoying, the internet site is usually too great for them to actually do anything - be it buying the product or accepting our free offers"
"It has given us access to the huge USA market (+ the rest of the world) at virtually no cost. As a result of considerable interest in our product via our web site we have over the last few months been making product changes to address this market and have only just released this - we hold out great hope for its success!"
"A significant proportion of the operation of our business is carried out over the internet using WWW and email to exchange information with third parties in the USA, and even if our customer is in the UK, in many cases they will be selling on our services and the ultimate customer will be abroad"
"Moving further into BENELUX & Germany. Have opened offices in Amsterdam to effect such an advancement."
"I have found a distributor for software sales in Holland and Australia but usually sell through a UK distributor with their own contacts"
"not yet started but hope to in Sept/Oct"
"Security is not the issue finding a good transaction system is vital - Mondex?"
"The Internet lends itself particularly well to promoting international trade. Rather than grabbing for the local Yellow pages, people are searching the internet and fnding the right company for the job faster and without the restrictions of nationality. This has provided a tremendous boost to our international activities. On the downside is still that the overwhelming majority of responses are US based and with their legal set up any UK company will have to think twice before deciding to operate there!"
"The Internet makes it a practical possibility now and will in the near future make it a necessity"
"Not applicable to our business"
"low cost quick way of exchanging information to sell our product."
"Finding that the Internet provides good quality clients - better than printed media at the moment."
"not much interest show yet on buying on the Web"
"the internet has greatly expanded our customer base and bought direct and indirect benfits to the business in sales and consultancy"
"As a result of our web site, we receive (typically) one enquiry a month from companies wishing to act as our distributor in their country and one direct sales lead"
"We experience very little problems in selling our services abroad, in fact they ask for our services. The problems that we experience are in obtaining the final payment for work completed. Companies abroad usually take 3-8 months to settle their accounts, especially from the east. The Canadian's are the best payers, and usually settle their accounts before the due date."
"Sales and enquiries from our web page are disappointing"
"The Internet removes some of the barriers to trading internationally. People have instant access to ever changing offerings on our web site. People seem keener to use it for communication instead of Fax/Letter."
"pound is too strong for retail sales at this time. However, their are still purchasers out there and they still purchase"
"The internet is helping our overseas sales and by current trends promises to become very important"
"It works well, and the Internet has significantly reduced our international direct marketing communications costs compared with fax/mail. This has enabled us to target more business using similar budgets/resources"
"We are endeavouring to break into the Australian and South African markets, but it is early days yet. We are considering also prospects in Ireland."
"It is a good starting point but many clients do not trust it to complete the transactions"
"Most interest in my services, via the internet, from outside the UK, has been from the US, which unfortunately is not a viable market due to carriage costs. Ideally, I would like to expand european business."
"$ conversion costs more than expected "
"Relatively few customers require standard stock items. They are looking for items that are difficult to obtain in their own locations and also quite often difficult to obtain in the UK. Internet trade has fallen even though our customers have praised our service (the decline may be because of the increased focus on credit card security issues, although our level of internet trading is not high enough to come to any firm conclusions as to the cause - it may just be a blip )."
"The Interrnet accounts for well over 50% of our companies' income"
"We are currently using the internet as the focal tool to expand exports at a retail level. The economics of developing export markets have been revolutionised, especially for sotware and information products where electronic distribution has already impacted dramtaically on the marginal cost of each additional sale"
"still early days but promising so far, new markets being entered"
"Services great products hopeless"
"It has opened up a market which was not accessible before. It has increased our revenue and put us in contact with some useful people"
"We supply Atomic Radio Controlled Computer Clocks for Europe and GPS systems worldwide, customers find our details by running internet searches."
"For the first time in August [our company] experienced real ineractivity with a client in China. The client - a PR agency - sent us a presentation which we put up as a web site which was then viewed by their prospective client in China."
"receipts have not justified the investment in hardware, line expenses or labour - although it hae been an interesting experience."
"The Internet is responsible for most of our sales. Customers visit the site and then contact us for the project they have in mind."
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