Electronic Commerce in Finland

Finland has a robust, if unrealized, potential for eCommerce. The potential lies in Finland's extensive ICT infrastructure, strong PC/Internet diffusion and the willingness of Finnish society in general to adapt to, and adopt, new technology into their daily lives. Yet statistics show that while a significant portion of the Finnish population access the internet (data compiled over a two-month period in 2002 had 62% of 15 to 74 year olds doing so) only 9% of the total population (14% of internet users) actually ordered something for personal use. This amounted to annual total of 870 million Euros, with 120 million Euros being spent to make purchases from abroad, with the highest volumes coming from clothing (18%), electronics (16%) and books (16%). Of these purchases, the vast majority (59%) were in the 1-100 Euro range, further indicating a hesitancy to actively engage in eCommerce.

To bring this statistic into focus, consider that over a similar time period 25% of the same societal group has made mail order purchases and 20% had made telephone order purchases. (22) (23)

The data further show that Finns (at a rate of 45%) primarily use the internet for "online window shopping", using the internet to research products that they then order through other means (phone orders, visits to retail outlets). (24)

Evidence indicates that there are three major consumer-driven impediments to BtoC eCommerce in Finland. One is that Finnish society places a high value on the enjoyment of store shopping, with 49% of those not making purchases on line citing that it is "easier/more fun" to buy goods in a store. Second to this are security concerns, with 39% citing generic security concerns and 26% citing concerns specifically about online use of credit cards. Lack of knowledge played a very limited role, cited by only 13%. (25) Third, only 30% of Finland's population have a connection to the internet from home (5), raising the possibility that simple lack of access to eCommerce is an impediment to its widespread addoption.

From a business perspective, Finland is well positioned to engage in eCommerce, should society move strongly in that direction. Looking at just small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which make up 76% of Finland's businesses, 49% have a website (3rd in Europe behind Denmark with 57% and Ireland with 53%), this number rising to over 60% for all businesses employing over 10 people. (7) Despite this Finland ranks 14th for SMEs using B2B (20%) and 9th for SMEs using B2C (20%). (26)