1999 E-Commerce Recap
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December 1, 1999 *2,800 subscribers*
Volume 1, Issue 11
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CONTENT – ECMGT.COM E-COMMERCE
NEWS - E-STRATEGIES & TRENDS
- E-PRODUCTS
- E-SERVICES
- E-MARKETING
- SUPPLY
CHAIN
- CONTENT, PORTALS & COMMUNITY
- GOVERNANCE
& GOING GLOBAL
- PARTNERS & DEALS
- MOVERS &
SHAKERS
E-STRATEGIES
& TRENDS NEWS
This section sponsored by - ECnow.com, please
visit them at http://www.ecnow.com
ToC - The next e-commerce
hurdle
- A Challenge for Pure-Play Internet Companies
- The
e-commerce jungle
- Can clicks live without bricks?
- The
friendly face of e-shopping
- Mixed reports on small biz e-commerce
- Time
is now for mid-size b2b firms
- Market makers come on strong
- E-commerce
ban stuns mall stores
- Report 19 million Americans to spend $7.8
billion on-line for holidays
- Shopping on-line but buying offline
- 1999
holiday sales will bricks or clicks win?
- E-gift certificates set
to become common currency
- Survey finds on-line shopping firms
fail to deliver
- All they want before Christmas is a working web
site
- Web site development costs
- E-Commerce catching
on with web's newbies
- Will e-commerce leave computers behind?
- The
REI path
- Teaching your elephant to morph
- Levi's
to back off Net sales after holidays
- Vitamins, toys top picks for
web shoppers
- Resistance to on-line clothes shopping
----
The next e-commerce hurdle
Research from various sources
indicates that once the on-line buying experience becomes too cumbersome and slow,
would-be customers log off. And, since there are already enough obstacles presenting
themselves to e-tailers, slow access is the last thing they need. A
Challenge for Pure-Play Internet Companies
Internet pure-play competitors
face a major challenge from more traditional companies that implement multi-channel
e-business The
e-commerce jungle
While visiting a friend, Sean discovered this strange
looking application bar hovering over the browser, displaying the new Diamond
Rio 500 MP3 player on Amazon.com. The product name appeared on the bar with a
price, and the price kept getting lower! The app searched the web for lowest price
then gave a link to buy. E-commerce will never be the same. Can
clicks live without bricks?
E-commerce is clearly a media favorite at
the moment, occupying significant space in most major newspapers and magazines,
but most people are still shopping the old-fashioned way. The
friendly face of e-shopping
What with all the e-commerce this gift-giving
season, there's a big need for customer service e-reps. Several companies aim
to make it easier to buy, buy, buy. Mixed
reports on small biz e-commerce
With major U.S. companies rushing headlong
into the world of e-commerce, are small businesses getting left behind? The answer
depends upon which statistics are considered. Time
is now for mid-size b-to-b firms
Despite the fact that media attention
to the explosive growth of e-commerce has largely focused upon the new synergy
between consumers and e-tailers, the real success stories may be in the business-to-business
sector. Market
makers come on strong
Business-to-business e-commerce is booming. In a
recent report, market researcher Dataquest predicted that a new breed of what
it calls "e-market makers" will transform how business gets done in
a host of industries. E-commerce
ban stuns mall stores
The Saint Louis Galleria informed its 170 retail
tenants in a letter last week of a new policy prohibiting any in-store "signs,
insignias, decals or other advertising or display devices which promote and encourage
the purchase of merchandise via e-commerce." Report
19 million Americans to spend $7.8 billion on-line for holidays
A new
industry report estimates that 19.4 million Americans will shop on-line this holiday
season, representing 28 percent of on-line adults, or 10 percent of all U.S. adults.
Shopping
on-line but buying offline
Internet shoppers are three times more likely
to buy items offline than on-line when browsing for items on the Internet. The
fact that people are shopping on-line but buying offline has a slew of implications
for advertising strategy. 1999
holiday sales will bricks or clicks win?
With Halloween behind us, holiday
shopping is about to break. Marketing managers at e-tailers around the world are
wringing their hands and watching their click-throughs. Careers across hundreds
of e-tailers may hang in the balance. E-gift
certificates set to become common currency
With Jupiter Communications
forecasting that overall gift giving will grow from $336 million US$ this year
to over $1.4 billion in 2002, the cyber gift certificate is poised to become all
the rage. Survey
finds on-line shopping firms fail to deliver
Just like their brick-and-mortar
competitors, many on-line retailers fail to deliver on their promises, according
to a survey of on-line shopping sites released this week. All
they want before Christmas is a working web site
While some retailers
are working around the clock to open their sites in time for the second meaningful
Internet shopping season, others will miss out. Web
site development costs
Many companies developing Web sites seem to see
all development costs as one thing -- that is "web site development costs."
However, Web sites include a wide variety of costs that must be identified and
accounted for separately. E-Commerce
catching on with web's newbies
Internet users with less than six months
experience on the Net are more confident about shopping on-line for the holidays
this year, according to a survey by NPD On-line Research. Will
e-commerce leave computers behind?
Do we even need a computer to be involved
when we access the Internet? The
REI path
Most merchants have had to adjust to the web, but a lucky few
have found the web supercharges what they'd been doing anyway. Dell and Cisco
have found this to be true. Dell was building PCs to order for a decade before
the web was spun, and Cisco was selling routers long before the Internet made
demand explode. Adding and nurturing the Internet channel were natural moves,
and benefits were enormous. There's a company like that in the retail space as
well, REI. Teaching
your elephant to morph
Intelligence, Webster's tells us, is "the
capacity to acquire and apply knowledge." What do Amazon.com,Peapod, Dell
Computer (the PC manufacturer) and FreeMarkets, Federal Express, Barnes &
Noble? Levi's
to back off Net sales after holidays
Levi Strauss is stepping away from
direct e-commerce sales after the holidays to focus more on its consumers and
retail partnerships, the company said. Vitamins, toys top picks for web shoppers
With the
holiday shopping season in full swing, Internet retailers offering vitamins or
toys, as well as on-line malls, have enjoyed the biggest gains in traffic, according
to a report released yesterday. Resistance to on-line clothes shopping
Nearly half
the Internet users in a recent survey said they never planned to buy clothing
on-line. Consumers' reservations about buying apparel on-line have been difficult
to overcome.
E-PRODUCTS NEWS
ToC - Letters to Santa are no longer
necessary
- Digital payments come of age
- C/Base delivers
pre-paid personal spending technology
- Four airlines plan joint
travel site
- Citibank launches on-line shopping tool for consumers
- Testing
Furniture.com Does the cyber service revolution have legs?
- Do luxury
retailers get e-commerce?
- Commerce Exchange Gets 'Xpert' Upgrades
- The web way or the highway
- Blinded by the e-commerce
gold rush
- Hotelguide.com launches largest hotel directory on the
internet
- icollector plc launches highest insurance coverage for
e-commerce transactions
- Amazon pops into consumer reviews with
zBubbles
----
Letters to Santa are no longer necessary
Wishlist.com, Wishclick.com and OhIWish.com have joined other e-commerce start-ups
in the cluttered field of on-line gift registries, where people post lists of
their preferred gifts. Digital
payments come of age
It will take some time before digital currency takes
over and we become a "cash-less" society, but the groundwork is already
being laid and the technology has matured enough for widespread use. C/Base
delivers pre-paid personal spending technology
E-commerce technology company
C/Base said it has developed a new Web technology that "combines the convenience
and manageability of credit cards with the freedom and privacy of cash."
Four
airlines plan joint travel site
Four of the five largest U.S. airlines
are banding together to start a multi-airline travel Web site, in the face of
growing competition from Internet companies. Citibank
launches on-line shopping tool for consumers
Financial giant Citibank
launched ClickCredit, a separate line of credit for consumers designed to be used
exclusively for on-line purchases. Testing
Furniture.com Does the cyber service revolution have legs?
Business Week
went to Furniture.com to see if e-merchants are ready for the holiday onslaught.
Unfortunately, fancy new software isn't enough to solve the Web's customer service
problems. Do
luxury retailers get e-commerce?
According to a new report by Forrester
Research, Inc., luxury brick-and-mortar retailers such as Neiman Marcus are approaching
e-commerce with a bargain basement mentality. Commerce
exchange uets 'Xpert' upgrades
The Sun-Netscape Alliance has upgraded
two of its Commerce Exchange family of applications, ECXpert and Trading Xpert,
for more automated, business-to-business transactions. The
web way or the highway
General Motors Corp. said Friday that it would
move all of its US$87 billion in annual purchases to its new e-commerce Web site
within about two years and would pressure its suppliers to follow suit. Blinded
by the e-commerce gold rush
It seems that the Internet Gold Rush has fostered
the same kind of hysteria that its 19th century counterpart did. But those who
think that the Internet has leveled the playing field so that anyone with a modem,
an idea and a Web site can just show up and compete with the corporate giants
is sorely mistaken. Hotelguide.com
launches largest hotel directory on the Internet
Hotelguide.com has launched
a site that is now the largest hotel directory on the Internet, with over 60,000
hotels in 200 countries. The site offers on-line booking and detailed free information
on a wide selection of hotels, including maps on how to get there and colorful
photos. icollector
plc launches highest insurance coverage for e-commerce transactions
icollector
plc, launches the highest insurance cover for e-commerce transactions on the Internet,
designed specifically to protect customers of the icollector site. iGuarantee
covers items purchased through icollector for up to $50,000 with an additional
$500 for shipping costs. Amazon pops into consumer reviews with zBubbles
Amazon
has quietly entered the red-hot arena of consumer product reviews with a new software
application called zBubbles.
E-SERVICES NEWS
ToC - Consumer Reports to issue e-commerce
report cards
- Ernst & Young debuts e-commerce trust community
- IBM
opens e-business centers
- Secret shopper service launches
- To
bot or not to bot
- Letting technology do the shopping
- New
bots a shopper's best friend
- Shopping bots Intelligent at last?
- No
customer service looks expensive for Net firms
- Customer service
worries on-line shoppers
- Nike lets customers personalize shoes
on-line
----
Consumer Reports to issue e-commerce report
cards
Consumer Reports On-line is expected to announce Monday that it
will begin providing regular Web site evaluations, just as it has for decades
in the brick-and-mortar world. Ernst & Young debuts e-commerce trust community
Recognizing
e-businesses' concerns about privacy and security, professional services firm
Ernst & Young has launched the Center for Trust On-line IBM
opens e-business centers
IBM Global Services Monday launched a chain of
e-business innovation centers -- brick-and-mortar facilities designed to offer
e-business customers a one-stop area for working on both front-end and back-end
technology for their sites. Secret
shopper service launches
BuyerTouch, an e-commerce "secret shopper"
and customer satisfaction analysis company, launched a service that it said will
enable e-commerce companies to understand their customers' shopping experiences.
To
bot or not to bot
Customers like the convenience of on-line shopping,
but they're still stumbling through the world's largest mall. It's no surprise
then that they're increasingly taking to the shop-by-bot concept. Letting
technology do the shopping
Using a combination of new technologies, a
growing number of e-commerce companies can monitor their customers' shopping habits
like never before. And beyond just collecting information for targeted advertising,
software programs can actively steer shoppers from one purchase to another--even
when there is no obvious connection. New
bots a shopper's best friend
With the new shopping bots you don't need
to go to their sites to find a better price or more favorable shipping. Instead,
their bots accompany you around the Net and suggest alternatives when you're ready
to buy. Shopping
bots Intelligent at last?
New technology will let users check competing
prices -- complete with shipping, taxes and any duties -- at the click of a button.
No
customer service looks expensive for Net firms
E-commerce companies may
want to pay more attention to satisfying existing customers and worry less about
acquiring new ones, a study shows. Customer
service worries on-line shoppers
Consumers expect to save money by making
purchases on-line this holiday season, but delivery and customer service hold
the key to keeping e-consumers happy, according to reports by E-BuyersGuide.com
and Datamonitor. Or do they? Nike
lets customers personalize shoes on-line
So you want to be like Mike?
Even potato couches can now have their very own personalized athletic shoe thanks
to Nike's new NIKEiD service.
E-MARKETING NEWS
ToC - Teen shoppers trust parents,
peers, more than web
- What keeps customers on-line?
- BBB
Posts draft of new code of on-line business practices
- Watch their
eyes
- Portrait of the web's shoppers
- Group aims to
tackle ad standards
- What's your buddy's e-mail worth?
- How
women buy, and why
- What do on-line customers really want?
- BizRate.com
Adds 1,200 merchants to program in six months
- Net marketers to
develop user data standards
- Not all Internet surveys are created
equal
- Consumers ready to embrace net commerce and marketing
- Advocates
call for halt to on-line profiling
- On-line companies squander publics
trust
- Can you trust TRUSTe?
- Privacy does anyone
really care?
- Privacy plan tied to XML
- Launching
an e-mail component
- Affiliate programs do they work for B-to-B?
----
Teen shoppers trust parents, peers, more than web
Teen shoppers,
despite their high degree of Internet savvy, rely more on their parents, peers
and traditional media than on advertising and on-line sources for purchase advice,
according to a study by the Ketchum public relations firm. What
keeps customers on-line?
On-line retailers must focus on people, not
on technology. BBB
posts draft of new code of on-line business practices
The Better Business
Bureau system released a draft of its new Code of On-line Business Practices and
began seeking public comment on the code. Watch
their eyes
You can't automate a human process and expect a positive result.
Your average e-commerce site says it's customer-centric, but watch their eyes.
Portrait
of the web's shoppers
New research finds more women, older Americans and
first-time e-shoppers are buying over the Web. Group
aims to tackle ad standards
Eleven companies are launching an industry
group to address a variety of industry trouble spots, ranging from audience measurement
to privacy. What's
your buddy's e-mail worth?
One e-commerce startup is offering a $5 discount
for every e-mail address you provide. How
women buy, and why
New research that classifies and categorizes women
aims to understand what makes them click, stop, and shop. What
do on-line customers really want?
As the battle for Web survival intensifies,
e-tailers are finding it increasingly necessary to ask themselves a most fundamental
question What do on-line customers really want? It is a tough question to answer,
but a picture of what it takes to attract an on-line customer is beginning to
emerge. BizRate.com
adds 1,200 merchants to program in six months
E-commerce ratings site
BizRate.com said it has added 1,200 merchant sites in the past six months and
now has exclusive real-time access to more than 60 percent of all customers making
on-line retail transactions. Net
marketers to develop user data standards
Internet marketers should move
a step closer to knowing just about everything about everybody in cyberspace,
when nearly 25 makers of Internet marketing, tracking and analysis applications
announce they are building a standard way to create, store and exchange data on
Web users. Not all Internet surveys are created equal
Just as
ancient ships were misguided to a rocky death, the seductive siren song of Internet
research can muddy the waters of e-commerce. Consumers
ready to embrace net commerce and marketing
The Internet has changed
the shopping habits of a majority of consumers who use it, according to a survey
focused on marketing issues by @dtech and Talk City. Advocates
call for halt to on-line profiling
Should companies be banned from sending
cookies and otherwise tracking on-line usage information? On-line
companies squander public’s trust
Although the future of on-line
commerce will rely on credibility, companies continue to squander the public's
trust. The Web has not adopted the kinds of standards and practices that are assumed
in traditional media. Can
you trust TRUSTe?
With three licensees in six months under fire for privacy
violations, nonprofit privacy initiative TRUSTe is facing doubts about its ability
to protect consumers' privacy on-line. Privacy
does anyone really care?
Experienced Internet shoppers know that Web
sites collect personal data on them to build customer profiles, including information
that they don't deliberately submit, such as where they click and the route they
take to travel through the site. It doesn't bother them much. Privacy
plan tied to XML
A group of vendors is pushing CPEX, a proposed XML standard,
as a way for companies to share information about consumers--while letting consumers
themselves control that information. Launching
an e-mail component
Imagine that you're at your favorite on-line cheesecake
store. You find what you're looking for, add it to your shopping cart and click
"buy." As you fill out the on-line order form, you're asked to check
off your favorites on a list of 25 cheesecake flavors, "so we may better
serve you..." You sign up because you love a good special and want to be
informed of the latest in the world of cheesecake. And so it's done. You've opted
in. Affiliate
programs do they work for B-to-B?
What exactly is an affiliate program?
While the particulars change based on who is offering it and how it operates,
the basic definition is the same An affiliate program is a revenue-sharing plan
that uses the Internet to facilitate partnered selling. The affiliate concept
is uncomplicated and easy for both parties, making it possible for everybody to
be a winner.
SUPPLY CHAIN NEWS
This section sponsored by - CONNECTINC.COM,
please visit them at http://www.connectinc.com
ToC - U.S. Postal Service
set to aid on-line returns
- Delivering the goods no simple solution
- So
easy to buy, such a struggle to return
----
U.S. Postal
Service set to aid on-line returns
The U.S. Postal Service will announce
that it has created a service to let Internet shoppers return merchandise without
facing much of the inconvenience involved in on-line returns. Delivering
the goods no simple solution
E-Commerce is like comedy. Coming up with
ideas is easy; delivery is hard. If the explosion in on-line shopping had taken
place in 1959 instead of 1999, getting packages delivered might have been easier.
In 1959, many homes still had milk boxes. So
easy to buy, such a struggle to return
While hauling merchandise back
to the store after the holidays is an inconvenience, digging up receipts, finding
addresses and boxing up items to ship back to an Internet retailer thousands of
miles away can be an off-the-charts hassle, so much so that many shoppers simply
do not return items they bought on-line.
CONTENT, PORTALS & COMMUNITY
ToC - Ezyfind
sells the local market
- Neighborhood Stores Find Internet Venue
----
Ezyfind sells the local market
Ezyfind, an Australian city-guide,
will launch a service in the United States Monday, linking up with local media
to create portals for small metropolitan areas. Neighborhood
Stores Find Internet Venue
eTreats.com has launched as an e-commerce
site offering access to a network of small neighborhood shops from around the
United States that provide hand-crafted confections, candies, gourmet items and
fruit baskets.
E-COMMERCE GOVERNANCE & GOING GLOBAL NEWS
ToC - E-Taxes
states and counties say "Ring 'Em Up"
- A taxing dilemma
for the EU
- Asian web users shop more at overseas sites
- U.S.
House of Representatives overwhelmingly passes global tax bill
- U.S.
to fight e-commerce trade barriers
- E-commerce patent rights now
a global issue
- E-signature bill passes Senate
- Global
e-commerce picking up steam
- Web wine the grape debate
----
E-Taxes States and Counties Say "Ring 'Em Up"
The Advisory
Commission on Electronic Commerce -- a.k.a., the Internet tax commission -- is
out of money and out of friends. Pretty soon, it may be out a mandate. A
Taxing dilemma for the EU
Europe is not ready for a permanent moratorium
on Internet tariffs, although it doesn't mind extending a temporary ban. Or so
say government officials attending the Transatlantic Business Dialogue in Berlin.
Asian
Web Users Shop More at Overseas Sites
On-line shoppers in Asia are buying
more goods from overseas sites than before, although they still prefer to buy
from local Web sites by a factor of two to one. U.S.
House of Representatives overwhelmingly passes global tax bill
In a vote
of 423 to 1, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill late last week to
prevent the imposition of sales taxes on global Internet sales. U.S.
to fight e-commerce trade barriers
The U.S. government will vigorously
oppose the erection of barriers that would unduly restrict global electronic commerce,
the deputy U.S. trade representative said Monday. E-commerce
patent rights now a global issue
In a decision with global implications,
a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia recently removed a major obstacle to the
development of secure electronic commerce. E-signature
bill passes Senate
The U.S. Senate passed the Millennium Digital Commerce
Act Friday, following in the footsteps of the House of Representatives, which
recently passed a similar measure to make electronic signatures legally binding.
Global
e-commerce picking up steam
Many American Internet users still perceive
life with borders. However, countries of all stripes are gearing up their own
electronic commerce operations, and it may soon be commonplace for Americans to
shop for products from Asia, Europe, Latin America, and perhaps even Russia. Web
wine the grape debate
Arcane direct shipping laws are creating havoc among
wineries that conduct business on-line, their customers, plus state and federal
governments.
E-COMMERCE PARTNERS & DEALS NEWS
ToC - CMGI Launches
B2B Fund
- eBay buys stake in surplus site
- American
Express announces portal plans
- HP reaches out to new partners to
build revenue stream
- Goto.com acquires e-commerce company Cadabra
- VerticalNet to acquire NECX
- Amazon backing boosts
E.piphany's stock
- Juno to promote eBay on its new shopping service
- Pet
sites bark up the Net tree
----
CMGI Launches B2B
Fund
Internet conglomerate CMGI is looking to capitalize on the riches
being created by business-to-business electronic commerce companies by launching
a venture capital fund focused on the market. CMGI announced this week that it
will pump as much as $1 billion into a new @Ventures B2B Fund. eBay
buys stake in surplus site
eBay Inc., which has persuaded millions of
Americans to trade everything from Beanie Babies to high-school yearbooks on-line,
now is betting that U.S. corporations are eager to sell their odds and ends over
the Internet, too. American
Express announces portal plans
American Express announced Monday that
it will join the race to become a leading portal for companies that are looking
to purchase their supplies and operating resources over the Web. HP
reaches out to new partners to build revenue stream
Hewlett-Packard Co.
hopes to cash in on an innovative way to increase its roster of partners while
building new revenue streams trading hardware and software for a cut of the revenues
ofor stakes inthose Internet companies Goto.com
acquires e-commerce company Cadabra
Ad-linked search engine company GoTo.com
said it will acquire Cadabra Inc., an Internet-based provider of comparison-shopping
services, for $250 million comprised of $8 million in cash and the balance in
GoTo stock. Juno
to Promote eBay on Its New Shopping Service
On-line trading community
eBay Inc. signed a deal with Juno On-line Services Inc. to be the exclusive provider
of on-line trading services on JunoLand, Juno's on-line community site, and on
Shop@Juno, the company's new on-line shopping channel. VerticalNet
to acquire NECX
VerticalNet Inc. said Tuesday it reached an agreement
to acquire NECX Exchange LLC, a business-to-business electronics marketplace for
the spot market and open market. Amazon
backing boosts E.piphany's stock
Shares of E.piphany, a maker of software
that analyzes data collected from Web sites, rose as much as 35 percent after
No. 1Internet retailer Amazon.com said it will use the software. Pet
sites bark up the Net tree
A dogfight is brewing in the on-line pet industry,
with four big players announcing multimillion-dollar investments and prime-time
partnerships.
E-COMMERCE MOVERS & SHAKERS NEWS
ToC - She's Weaving
Web Policy from the West Wing
- Study Net shoppers fill baskets
with toys
- Amazon ushers in the era of e-department stores
- Amazon
believers and critics have their say
----
She's
Weaving Web Policy from the West Wing
The new White House e-commerce
adviser, Elizabeth Echols, must find a balance between privacy and consumer protections
and the need to nurture e-businesses. Study
Net shoppers fill baskets with toys
On-line shoppers spent about $200
million last week, and toys are emerging as a hot item as the holidays approach,
according to a survey by research firm PC Data On-line. Amazon ushers in the era of e-department stores
Leading
on-line retailer Amazon.com has taken a giant step away from its original incarnation
as an on-line bookseller by announcing the launch of home improvement, software,
video game and gift idea stores. Amazon
believers and critics have their say
Investors responding to the "Great
Amazon Debate" offer thought-provoking arguments about the giant e-tailer's
future.
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