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By Pia Heikkila, 8 May 2000 00:15

NEWS E-tailers must copy traditional retailers' business processes if they are to have a hope of surviving, according to industry analysts. The issue was top of the agenda on this week's Behind the Headlines programme. silicon.com chief reporter Sarah Left was joined by Chris Collins, sales and marketing director at Pagoda Consulting Richard Sykes, chairman at consultancy Morgan Chambers and Duncan Chappel, analyst at Ovum, to take a look back at the top industry stories of the week. Chris Collins urged ecommerce firms to bring back established customer fulfillment strategies and combine it with technology available. He said: "Most ecommerce companies fail with customer service. Instead, they should learn their attitude and mentality from the cornershop." Richard Sykes agreed. "Technology will not perform wonders for business. It is there to help, but companies should still respect the most important part of their business: their customers." Despite the best efforts of the UK government to persuade the business community to get online, Britain's ecommerce drive is still stuck in first gear. Research published by management consultants Shelley, Taylor and Associates on Wednesday highlights the fact that UK ecommerce firms are still well behind their US counterparts, especially with regards to customer service levels and delivery of goods. They also stressed the importance of having government legislation which supports rather than hampers entrepreneurship online, with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill a case in point. Collins said: "The government is suffocating the progress of ecommerce by introducing the Snooping Bill. As ecommerce is all about freedom and speed, government should encourage companies to invest on security rather than putting brakes on development." You can watch this week's Behind the Headlines programme in our Retail Channel (http://www.silicon.com/a37304 ).