Food, Packaged-Goods Industry Dubious On E-Commerce

The food and consumer packaged-goods industries see big opportunity in Web technology -- but members of those industries aren't sure senior management is preparing to embrace that opportunity. In fact, in a recent survey by Andersen Consulting and CIES -- The Food Business Forum, 64% of respondents said their firms do not have clear-cut e-commerce strategies in place. The survey polled CEOs, information technology directors, and people taking part in CIES' Management Development Programme (MDP). Of CEO's, 61% rated their firms' e-commerce opportunities as very strong, compared with 55% of MDP members, and 42% of IT directors. While 68% of CEO's rated their senior management as very or extremely committed to e-commerce, only 39% of MDP respondents did so. Also -- of manufacturers, 57% said they believe margins will increase due to e-commerce, while only 33% of retailers expressed this belief. CIES, headquartered in Paris, is an international food business network. Chicago-headquartered Andersen is a management- and technology-consulting organization.