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Encouraging Private Sector Online Presence in the Kingdom of Bahrain

Hamed Mohamed Abulfatih

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Introduction

• Although the Kingdom of Bahrain was connected to the Internet since 1995 (almost 20 years) many companies and stores still don’t have an online presence in the form of a website, some of them even don’t even have an email address, that is why we should concentrate on to help improve e-commerce in the Kingdom.

• The Government of Bahrain has made huge strides in creating online presence for government organizations through an online government portal with many useful e-services and had made a huge effort into developing G2G, G2C and G2B but what about B2C, B2B and B2G?

• Bahrainis who own small medium-sized businesses should be encouraged by their government to have an online presence to help broaden their market base.

• The governments should have an initiative is to encourage more businesses, especially the fast growing small-medium sized sector, to have a web presence in the hopes that they would eventually tap the resources and penetrate a much bigger market that the internet offers.

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Idea/ concept and its role in Bahrain’s e-Government.

• One of the most important aspects of e-government is how it brings citizens and businesses closer to their governments.

• Analogous to e-commerce, which allows businesses to transact with each other more efficiently (B2B) and brings customers closer to businesses (B2C), e-government aims to make the interaction between government and citizens (G2C), government and business enterprises (G2B), and interagency relationships (G2G) more friendly, convenient, transparent, and inexpensive. Usually it is e-commerce who takes the lead and e-government follows but it’s the complete opposite in Bahrain.

• The Citizens of Bahrain have seen major milestones in the field of e-government and can interact with their government through the e-government portal through Bahrain.bh to get the benefits of hundreds of governments services online but unfortunately the business sector has yet to catch up the information age and establish a thriving e-commerce scene in Bahrain.

• It is difficult to find a website for many companies in Bahrain and it is very rare to find any company/store offering online shopping and delivery options, many companies/shops don’t even have an email address for any correspondence.

• If we encourage companies/stores/shops to have a presence online it will increase the number of citizens who are used to dealing with companies online and will eventually increase the use of citizens with the e-government as they will be more likely to trust online services and it will be second nature for them to do so.

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Goals and objectives of the idea /concept

“THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY”

E-CITIZENS

E-GOVERNMENTE-COMMERCE

SOVEREIGNTYGLOBALISATION

= voluntary or involuntary exchange

A Triangle Relationship Model among E-Government, Business and Citizens

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Plan of implementation into the e-government

• The increase of the private sector online presence will increase the awareness for online services and online payments.

• More businesses will do online transactions with the e-government.

• More cooperation and interactions will be done between the business sector and the government online.

Business - to - Government (B2G)

B2G model is a variant of B2B model. Such websites are used by government to trade and exchange information with various business organizations. Such websites are accredited by the government and provide a medium to businesses to submit application forms to the government.

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The cost associated with implementation of e-Concept and ROI

Cost:

Through Support and Incentives by Tamkeen or Incentives by LMRA in the form of reduction the fees by a certain percentage for a period of time which can be extended if the website and e-commerce is maintained.

ROI:

• In Bahrain 961,228 there are Internet users as of June 30, 2012, 77.0% penetration.

• In the Middle East 90,419,935 Internet users as of Dec 31, 2012, 40.4% of the population.

• About 2.4 Billion people worldwide have access to the internet as of June 30 2012 that is 34% of the world population. (all figures are taken from http://www.internetworldstats.com)

So it is clear the potential of the returns on the economy and companies in Bahrain if we encourage the online presence of the private sector in Bahrain, not to mention that the long lasting congestion of the roads and constant traffic jams makes it more convenient to make your shopping and transactions online.

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The idea/concept benefits to the private sector and society

Online presence and E-Commerce advantages can be broadly classified in three major categories:

• Advantages to Organizations• Advantages to Consumers• Advantages to Society

Advantages to Organizations

• Using E-Commerce, organization can expand their market to national and international markets with minimum capital investment. An organization can easily locate more customers, best suppliers and suitable business partners across the globe.

• E-Commerce helps organization to reduce the cost to create process, distribute, retrieve and manage the paper based information by digitizing the information.

• E-commerce improves the brand image of the company.• E-commerce helps organization to provide better customer services.• E-Commerce helps to simplify the business processes and make them faster and efficient.• E-Commerce reduces paper work a lot.• E-Commerce increased the productivity of the organization. It supports "pull" type supply

management. In "pull" type supply management, a business process starts when a request comes from a customer and it uses just-in-time manufacturing way.

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Advantages to Customers

• 24x7 support. Customer can do transactions for the product or enquiry about any product/services provided by a company any time, any where from any location. Here 24x7 refers to 24 hours of each seven days of a week.

• E-Commerce application provides user more options and quicker delivery of products.• E-Commerce application provides user more options to compare and select the cheaper and better

option.• A customer can put review comments about a product and can see what others are buying or see the

review comments of other customers before making a final buy.• E-Commerce provides option of virtual auctions.• Readily available information. A customer can see the relevant detailed information within seconds

rather than waiting for days or weeks.• E-Commerce increases competition among the organizations and as result organizations provides

substantial discounts to customers.

Advantages to Society

• Customers need not to travel to shop a product thus less traffic on road and low air pollution.• E-Commerce helps reducing cost of products so less affluent people can also afford the products.• E-Commerce has enabled access to services and products to rural areas as well which are otherwise not

available to them.• E-Commerce helps government to deliver public services like health care, education, social services at

reduced cost and in improved way.

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Advantages to Organizations in Details

• 1. Be Open For Business 24 Hours a DayBusinesses are open to the world 24 hours a day, 7days a week with no labor costs to watch it. An online store never closes. And a website faces no time zone barriers.

• 2. Reach New Markets With a Global AudienceInternet is the most cost effective way to trade nationally and internationally. A website will broaden the base of customers, members, distributors or suppliers. More and more clients will be generated for the business without doing additional marketing. Today, more and more customers are making purchases through the Internet. Why should business be limited to the immediate locale when the whole world may be a potential market? Thanks to the Internet, it is as easy to sell halfway across the world as it is to sell across the street.

• 3. Nerve Center for the Global EconomyThe Internet has become the nerve center for the global economy. Many world leaders are realizing that those organizations will thrive in this global Internet economy who will grasp its importance before their competitors do. A well-designed website is not only an Internet identity for the organization, it is an essential part of the success and future of the company in the 21st Century.

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• 4. Present a Professional and Credible ImageOrganizations must make the leap into the 21st century if it is to be perceived as professional in today's marketplace. Today, customers, employees, and suppliers expect to be able to find and communicate with a business online. It is very much like being listed in the Yellow Pages, if there is no listing, potential customers will not be able to find and trust companies? Organizations that still do not have a Web presence are inadvertently making a statement about their ability to embrace technology and adapt to change in today's dynamic environment. For a small business, a well-designed website is a great way of creating credibility and looking bigger than they actually are. They can look like one of the big corporations at a very small cost. When one compares the cost of establishing a website to what it costs to promote a business on the traditional media (newspaper, radio, television), it is evident that a website is the cheapest form of marketing ever created.

• 5. Improved Customer Service24 hours customer services can be provided without hiring any additional employees. Customers are better served when they can access information about products or services immediately via the company website rather than waiting for a mailed brochure or a return telephone call. In today's fast-paced market, how quickly and conveniently customers can access the information or purchase the product is frequently the factor that determines who will win the sale. Provide answers to frequently asked questions on the website. Information requests can be processed immediately via online forms and autoresponders whether someone is in the office or not.

6. Save Money on Printing and Distribution CostsA website is the online brochure or catalog that can be changed or updated at anytime at a much cheaper and faster rate than print material. It saves you money on printing and distribution costs.

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• 7. Create A Product Or Service ShowcaseProvide photos and detailed descriptions of the products or services. Explain why the products or services are superior to the competitors. Show the customers how the products or services can help them in their personal or professional lives, this will help consumers get better choices and make smarter decisions and choices.

• 8. Automation, Productivity, and ProfitabilityThrough Internet automation productivity and profitability can increase . Online automation can reduce costs for advertising, sales personnel, and other support staff. A website increases the company's productivity because less time is spent explaining product or service details to customers since such information would be available 24 hours a day on the website. A website saves costs by allowing users to download invoices, proposals, and other important documents. The website can also allow the customers, employees, and suppliers to have their email address added to the company’s mailing list. Sending an email to the entire email list can be done at virtually no cost.

• 9. Selling Products and Services OnlineSelling through a website is much cheaper and a great way to supplement the offline business. Providing secure online ordering is very affordable today. That explains why the worldwide online commerce has reached $1.5 trillion by 2014 (http://www.emarketer.com/), the cost savings will be reflected on society getting products cheaply.

• 10. StabilityIf the place of business is moved , phone number changed , or even hours are changed, the website address never changes, and the website is always open.

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• 11. Own Internet IdentityAn own domain name (www.yourcompany.com) establishes a strong online brand identity, and allows companies to set up email addresses specific to their own company. Today, email is the most common way to communicate efficiently and professionally with the rest of the world.

• 12. Promoting ServicesLawyers, doctors, financial consultants, entertainers, realtors and all service oriented businesses should take advantage of the massive reach of the Internet. Millions of users are logging on to the Web to compare various specialists and practitioners before they purchase a specialized service.

13. Customer FeedbackInformation about existing and potential customers can be gathered by using online forms and surveys. Provide a feedback form to make it easy for customers to send their input. Conduct surveys to find out how products and services can be improved. Site statistics can also help understanding how visitors and customers use the website.

• 14. Worldwide ExposureThere are numerous ways you can promote the website to enhance prominence, drive targeted traffic, and get worldwide exposure for the business. The site can be registered with various search engines and directories that reach more than 2.4 billion Internet users around the world. Most of the search engines and directories allow free registration of websites. Leverage the massive reach of the Internet and the precision targeting of the search engines and directories. Press releases can be sent to news media about the website that features unique aspects of the organization. The site can also be promoted through free banner advertising on various link exchange networks.

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• 15. Many Money From The SiteRevenue can be earned for sales, leads, and traffic driven from merchant links and ads placed on the site. Advantage of free access to various affiliate networks on the Internet can be taken.

• 16. Great Recruiting ToolJob opportunities can be posted with the company on the website. The website is a great recruiting tool for building the business.

• 17. Transfer Information to Branches and AffiliatesTransfer of documents through the website is cheaper and faster than by UPS, FedEx, etc. Files can be password protected if security is needed.

18. Viral Marketing Without a Marketing CostSatisfied customers can be refer the company/store to their friends and relatives through an online form on the website.

19. Improve Advertising EffectivenessThe company/store website address on all of the promotions will give the company a cutting edge corporate image and it will encourage the viewers to check the site for additional information. The addition of the website address on the ad increases the exposure without adding any cost.

• 20. Educate The CustomersThe website can offer free advice about the company/store services and products including ideas and suggestions for maximizing the benefit of its products.

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Thank You