The MS BizTalk-based solutions are electronic commerce software
applications that enable businesses to sell goods and services over
the Internet.
Known for its Internet boom, Estonia is now developing online
shopping. Every fifth person living in Estonia now uses the Internet.
"Thirty packages of Index BoxShop, standard e-shop solution in
Estonian, are already sold," said Mart Tammoja, Index Net Ltd. sales
manager. Index BoxShop's base language is English, but it can also
be changed into any language.
According to Tammoja, the package is the first Estonian-made and the
cheapest standard solution in Estonia. The target group of the
solution is small and medium-sized companies which plan to move their
sales to the Net. Index Net Ltd. has branches in Finland and Latvia.
However, Allan Sombri, Delfi Internet portal marketing director,
mentioned that MS BizTalk is not a complete product yet and its
preliminary testing isn't over. "But in general, BizTalk looks
attractive, and we keep our eye on it," said Sombri. Delfi uses a
product similar to MS BizTalk, Intershop solutions, available in
Russian and Latvian as well.
Index and Delfi standard solutions are available for 8,000 to 33,000
kroons ($486 to $2,000) accordingly.
"We offer a good chance for a company to start their own online
business at a low price," said Tammoja.
Index BoxShop software includes an easy-to-use shop construction
wizard. Users have relative freedom of changing fonts, color and
position of basic functional elements.
"Online trade makes up 14 percent (10 million kroons; $608,000) of
retail trade turnover, and online business in general is going to
grow up to 10 times during the next two years," said Kadi Kaasik,
executive director of Genex Trade Ltd. (Osta.ee online auction).
A brief analysis of the Estonian online market shows it is not yet
divided, according to Sombri.
"Online business is in its early stage in Estonia. There are hardly
10 to 15 solid online shops that offer one-stop shopping. Others are
just catalogues where you can see the product and sometimes order
it'" said Sombri.
Both Sombri and Kaasik said there was a certain lack of online
business specialists in Estonia.
"There's a big difference between online shops and supermarkets,"
Tammoja said. "For example, Delfi is a shop where you can buy CDs,
books, videos and building materials. Now Index 100 is a supermarket,
where products are sold from food and alcohol to clothes and cars."
As to the beginning of Estonian e-commerce, Index Net is again in
action. The first online shop offering only computers and domestic
appliances launched as a test project in 1998, and has developed into
the biggest Estonian e-shop, Index 100.
"Everything can be sold through the Net, even asphalt or an old elk.
The most important is the correlation of price and quality. If it's
good enough, people buy," Kalmer Johanson, Johnny Virtual World Ltd.
board member, said.
"In the near future, people will buy consumer goods (toothpaste,
shampoo) online. Additional services like online leasing will also
develop quickly," added Sombri.
"The Baltic market is small, hence, all the products sold online
can't be cheaper than in off-line stores," Kaasik said.
Emphasizing the advantage of online trade, Johanson said that
home-market-targeted online trade is the simplest way of taxed trade
in Estonia because no cash is used.
Security of payment and privacy of consumers remain the most
important issues concerning online trade.
"Estonian online shops are among the most secure in the world,
because online bank transfers are mostly used for paying," said
Sombri. "Credit cards are still a rare thing here," Johanson added.
"When paying through an online bank, payment security is guaranteed
by the bank," said Kaasik.
Electronic commerce develops much more quickly than the legal base
for it. There's no law in Estonia concerning e-business.
"Our work is going to be much easier when the law on digital
signature takes effect on December 15," said Kaasik.
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