E-commerce Survey, 2001-2016: Secure Access

The <i>E-commerce Survey</i> is an annual survey designed to measure the extent of the use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) and electronic trading by businesses in the UK. It is the only survey that measures ICT activity and e-commerce within UK businesses, including foreign-owned businesses.<br>
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The survey has been subject to a number of revisions each year, and the 2001 survey is classed as 'experimental', is of low quality, and was subject to significant revisions. Subtle changes in the survey questions can make any comparison between survey years difficult, and so researchers are advised to double-check all questions.<br>
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The sample is selected from the Inter-Departmental Business Register. Businesses with more than 1,000 employees are sent the questionnaire every year, whilst those with less than 1,000 employees are randomly sampled and do not therefore necessarily receive the questionnaire every year. The sample allocation uses an algorithm and optimises the sample on key variables that have remained the same since 2003. The survey does not include businesses with between 1 and 9 employees for certain years, e.g. 2005.<br>
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The survey samples businesses in the UK from all Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes, except for:<ul><li>Agriculture, Hunting and Forestry (Section A)</li><li>Fishing (Section B)</li><li>Mining and Quarrying (Section C)</li><li>Public Administration and Defence; Compulsory Social Security (Section L)</li><li>Education (Section M).</li></ul>The survey has collected information on a consistent basis from SICs since 2000, with only minor adaptations in certain SICs. The survey refers to the year from 1 January to 31 December.<br>
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There are separate <i>E-commerce Survey</i> questionnaires for the financial and non-financial sectors. Non-financial sectors are excluded from estimates relating to the proportions of businesses buying and selling electronically, and the values of their sales and purchases.<br>
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<i>Linking to other business studies</i><br>
These data contain Inter-Departmental Business Register reference numbers. These are anonymous but unique reference numbers assigned to business organisations. Their inclusion allows researchers to combine different business survey sources together. Researchers may consider applying for other business data to assist their research.<br>
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For the eighth edition (November 2018), the 2014 and 2015 Revised data files and the 2016 Provisional data file have been added. In addition 'latest' versions of the data have been added for 2009 to 2016. These contain additional variables covering SIC and number of employees but the variable naming convention used is different to the standard data files. The documentation has been updated to include the 2016 questionnaire and a spreadsheet detailing 2016 question changes.<br>
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