E‐commerce in a Web‐based environment: auditing relative advantages in the Australian health sector

The increased use of the Internet has suggested that there may be many advantages to both suppliers and consumers in using e‐commerce in a Web‐based environment. However, numerous concerns and disadvantages have also been expressed, mainly in the academic literature. The importance placed on these disadvantages by suppliers has not yet been studied. This study determines whether or not the advantages and disadvantages of e‐commerce revealed in the literature are deemed to be important by sample firms. This enables conclusions to be drawn about the level of insight these firms have into the technology, and their preparedness for the implementation of e‐commerce functions. This study provides evidence to suggest that there is no significant difference between the advantages of e‐commerce perceived by the responding suppliers and those presented in the literature, but that there is a significant variation with respect to the perceived disadvantages.