Measuring the e-commerce readiness of countries

With a view to assessing the e-commerce readiness of countries, this chapter starts by identifying a set of key facilitating factors that determine the extent to which enterprises and consumers are able to engage in online commerce. While the focus is on B2C transactions, the prerequisites for participating in B2B e-commerce are similar. Based on the analysis of the factors influencing the scope for e-commerce, the chapter introduces the UNCTAD B2C E-commerce Index covering 130 economies. This new Index allows countries to compare their e-commerce readiness against others and indicates their relative strengths and weaknesses concerning different elements of the e-commerce process.

Related Subject(s): Economic and Social Development