| |
1999 E-Commerce Recap
http://ecnow.com/top10trends1999.htm
ECMgt.com brought to you by ECnow.com
Your Link to Worldwide eCommerce Developments
December 1, 1999 *2,800 subscribers*
Volume 1, Issue 11
ECMgt.com Online: http://ECMgt.com
View this Issue: http://ecmgt.com/Dec1999
Print this Issue: http://ecmgt.com/Dec1999/full.issue.for.printing.htm ECnow.com 1999 trends: Reflection on the e-commerce
activities / events / developments of 1999 and how ECnow.com did on it's predictions
for the year
Comments From Our Readers and
Key E-Commerce Luminaries Our bulletin board allows readers to comment
on trends and issues throughout the month. Please stop by to add your comments
and see all the responses at http://ecmgt.com/bulletinboard.htm
Question of the Month The topic for December focuses on the
most significant e-commerce activities / events / developments of 1999 Selected
Answers of the Month *** - Abundant venture capitalist funding
of new e-commerce business models for B-to-B and B-to-C
- Analysts pay attention
to the inadequacy of existing supply chains to handle the demands of e-business
(returns processing, fulfillment, order visibility)
- No market validation
/ limited consumer acceptance to date for any e-commerce home grocery delivery
model
- Convergence of voice, video and data networks; mergers and acquisitions
in the telecommunications industry to provide integrated services
- Deployment
of Internet-based procurement systems to streamline purchases of MRO goods
- End
of the “brochure-ware” era of Websites; most significant Websites are
now transaction-capable
- Evolution of first generation Internet portals
into market aggregator / marketplace business models
- Adoption of Intranet
Portals by companies to aggregate services such as employee benefits, news, etc.
- Internet
stock brokerage firms gain momentum to the point that the largest traditional
broker is forced to launch Internet trading
- Passage of the Financial Services
Competitive Enhancement Act to promote innovation and new business models in the
financial services industry
Source: Mark Rhoney,
President, ec.UPS.com *** - Web Procurement
gets a good start
- Jack Welsh Makes eCommerce Priority Numbers 1, 2, 3
& 4
- B-to-B Exchanges Get Going
- Infrastructure IPO's - Sycamore,
Akamai
- Shaheen leaves Andersen Consulting for WebVan
Source:
Chris Davis, VP, Consulting & Systems Integration, CSC ***
- Internet tax freedom act
- Palm VII, Palm Vx, wireless handheld, Palm
competitors
- Wireless/Digital PCS Internet Access Rollout
- Corporate
investment / company-based VC funds – Oracle, Sun, Dell, Novell
- Apache
http server & derivatives reach over 66% of market
- Mass popularization
of online trading and universal access to historical data
- Application
service providers, corporate portals, total service providers
Source:
Dr. Gregory Alan Bolcer, CEO/Founder, Endeavors Technology ***
- The demise of anti-spam efforts. The direct e-mail forces have won,
and we can all expect to suffer the consequences. We have no effective protection
any more, against receiving massive amounts of unwanted e-mail.
Source:
Bahar Gidwani, CEO, indexstock.com *** - The
inclusion of NASDAQ stocks into the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. This is THE stamp
of legitimacy for an exchange dominated by "dot.coms."
- The birth
of Market Makers as a recognized and potentially dominant force. Early leaders
such as TradeEx and Chemdex will continue to lead the way.
- The impact
of the "dot.coms" on the financial health of the US; no one can call
e-commerce a fad anymore. The climb of the NASDAQ to nearly 3400 is part of this
phenomenon.
- The ruling against Microsoft. No matter what the ultimate
outcome, this is a big development.
- The quiet but exploding growth of
Linux. It may take years before we realize how significant this is.
Source:
Stacey Bressler, E-Commerce Strategy and Marketing Consultant ***
- Public awareness of doing business on the Internet as well as corporate awareness
of the advantage of b-to-b e-commerce.
- The proliferation of companies
that are now offering e-commerce.
- The marriage of brick-and-mortar companies
with e-commerce capabilities. For instance, I can order an electronic product,
such as a VCR, online from the "Good Guys" and if I have a problem or
need to return it, I can simply go to my nearest store rather than ship it back
to the factory.
Source: Bill McLain, Webmaster,
Xerox *** - Undoubtedly, the highlight for 1999,
was the rising star of CommerceOne and Ariba with regards to indirect procurement
For 2000, expect those players to now move towards direct procurement and vertical
marketplaces.
- The lowlight, was the lack of understanding on the behalf
of ERP vendors on the impact the Internet would have on their businesses, with
the exception of Oracle.
Source: Scott Latham, AMR
Research, Senior Analyst, E-Business *** - The
entrance of Amazon, Yahoo, AOL into areas that they had no legacy experience with
(ie auctions)
- The purchase of traditional businesses such as Sotheby with
Internet stock
- The realization of the investment and start-up community
as to the size and desirability of the B-to-B space
- The shortened "bear
market" IPO cycle
- The development of XML as a standard for commerce
- The
fact that companies like EBay can make money
Source:
Peter M.Ostrow, President and CEO, TestMart ***
- "Dot Com Fever" - As the 7th dog food vendor made it's way on to
the dot.com scene, one could finally rest assured that the Internet had crossed
the Chasm. With Stanford and Harvard MBAs flooding the valley, there has been
a flurry of similar business models hitting the Internet in 1999. The Internet
has become a channel for traditional business models, such as the pet and clothing
stores.
- "Customer as King" - This year has seen the growth of
the interdependency between companies and their customers. The old battle that
was waged on product differentiation and product pricing has been by-passed. Now,
the battle is for who knows the customer best. Companies like Vignette and Personify
have come to market with products that help companies better interact with their
customers based on the ability to track, manage and analyze customer behavior.
- "Everything
Old is New Again" - Centralized computing is back again, only it's called
outsourcing now. Through the explosion of outsourcing and ASPs, companies are
now able to get out of the technology business and back into their business. They
can focus on running their businesses without having to worry about the IT piece.
This is one of the single greatest shifts in business models – from the client-server
approach to the outsourcing approach.
Source:
Bill Ryan, Partner, Niehaus Ryan Wong ***
- The obvious (IMHO) e-commerce breakthrough for 1999 was MP3 … which is
changing the face of the music industry and the way the next generation relates
to songs, bands and music in general
Source: Brad
Peppard, Marketing Consultant *** - The focus
on CRM in e-commerce
- The realization that if you don't have an e-commerce
model for your company, your chances for surviving the next decade are slim
(T.S.,
Santa Cruz, California, USA) *** - One
of the most interesting developments in e-commerce in 1999 was the creation of
ASP's...Application Service Providers! Goodbye ISP's
(F.S.,
Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA) ***
- The most significant e-commerce development of 1999 pertains to the online
auction site ... which has lead to an increased confidence in both purchasers
and suppliers. Online auctions have and will continue to transform the economic
infrastructure … where prices more accurately reflect their true market value.
(C.M.,
Massachusetts, USA) *** - On-line shopping and
e-mail without using a computer.
(J.E., Dallas,
Texas, USA) ***
- Introduction of flat-rate VOIP long distance calling.
(HR,
Lake Ariel, Pa. Wayne co., USA) *** - Not
just individuals, but companies are now participating in on-line ordering, a major
breakthrough in e-business.
(G.D., Vancouver, CANADA) ***
- Consumers are embracing this style of purchasing
- E-Credit - companies
are developing ways for their consumers to purchase products using online "credit
card-style" methods.
(S.C., San Jose, California,
USA) *** - The change in the nature of
e-commerce itself
- On-line auctions explode
- Ongoing debates in
government bodies concerning regulation of e-commerce
(R.R,
Mountain View, California USA) *** - Acceptance
of e-commerce trading rules by traditional brick and mortar companies.
(M.S.,
Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA) *** - Became
popular all over the world
- Doing a middle level transaction on the net.
- Trade
issue is the hot issue in the year 1999.
(PAAM,
Karachi, PAKISTAN) *** - Ford's announcement
of purchasing site
- Digital TV goes live in UK with easy shopping functions
- mySAP
(S.L.,
Copenhagen, DENMARK) *** - Lawsuits: US-Gov.
vs. MS & Amazon vs. Barnes & Noble
(R.H.,
Bochum, GERMANY) *** - ASP developments
for all kinds of verticalized e-commerce solutions that will allow all sizes of
businesses to quickly develop on line presence for commerce.
(P.S.,
St. Paul, Minneapolis, USA) *** - The media
finally woke up to the fact that B-to-B is in fact better suited to the efficiencies
and global reach of the Internet and has already eclipsed the more glamorous B-to-C
side
- Megabrands across the world have seen the B-to-B light and abandoned
their half-assed attempts at brochureware and finally committed implementation
of comprehensive e-commerce solutions. The leap of faith this required was great,
but they have finally overcome their fear of the unknown and realized that the
future is here and if they are not up to speed they will see major market share
erosion.
(T.F., Stamford, CT, USA) ***
- The most significant events of 1999 involve initial failures, and successes,
or new e-biz ventures. Enclopedia Brittanica and Victoria's Secret had great failures
because they did not plan for success. NetAid had great success because they did
plan for a huge audience. Most people do not appreciate failed attempts and it
is quite difficult to get someone to return to a site after a failed try.
(M.P.,
San Jose, California, USA) *** - Web-van.com
and the other local delivery services
- The successful implementation of
b-to-b systems in major industries
- The absence of Credit card number theft
stories in the media.
(D.S., Pleasanton, California,
USA) *** - Downtime. When a site went down,
the media was quick to respond.
(J.G., Tracy, California
USA) *** - Surprising market valuations for
money losing businesses
- Portal, portal, portal
- One stop auctions
for body parts
(G.T., San Carlos, California, USA) ***
- The jump in usage of the web
- Entrepreneurial web sites
- Shopping
capabilities
(C.S., San Jose, California, USA) ***
- The growing of on-line users. More and more people are getting connected around
here.
(C.L., São Paulo, BRAZIL) ***
- Huge expansion of competitors
- Huge advertising dollars spent in traditional
media on dot.coms
- Extraordinary sales growth combined by an astounding
lack of profitably.
(M.S., Minneapolis, Minnesota,
USA) *** - Growth of Net Markets
- Doubling
of e-commerce market cap in two week period during November to well over $50 billion.
(It was just over $200 million at the beginning of the year!)
(F.S.,
Milpitas, California, USA) *** - I believe that
the most significant e-commerce event is the steady rate that it has increased
(S.Y.,
Santa Clara, California, USA) *** - Intra-company
purchases and tracking
- Acceptance of secure transactions
(J.K.,
Palo Alto, California, USA) *** - E-Commerce
World Conference and IST (Information Society Technology) Conference
(A.H.,
JAPAN) *** - Victoria Secrets great failure
to anticipate the volume and the impact it would create
(S.C.,
San Jose, California, USA) *** - The possibility
of a World e-commerce event organized and held for all commercially interested
parties around the world. A showcase of present and future technologies making
e-commerce possible and presentation of conference papers on legal and business
ethical issues involving e-commerce.
(K.F., SINGAPORE) ***
- More software solutions readily available to enable B-to-B e-commerce.
- Security
risks well addressed on the consumer side, enabling a wide spread use of on line
buying.
- More every day things for the masses to buy eg. ebay and Amazon
offerings.
(R.R., Santa Clara, California, USA) ***
- The focus of many netreprenuers has shifted from on-line business to how fast
they can go for public listing (IPO) and how much capital gain they can derived
from it.
- On-line Bidding (or On-line Gambling?) where one can indicate
the merchandise and quantity one wants to purchase, the brands one willing to
accept and the price one willing to pay. Once the bids have been accepted, one
may print out the list and take it to any participating store and retrieve the
merchandise ---- saves a lot of money.
(LHL, SINGAPORE)
Copyright © 1999-2009 by ECnow.com,
Inc., All rights reserved
ECnow.com (http://ecnow.com)
21265 Stevens
Creek Blvd., Suite 205
Cupertino, CA 95014
408-257-3000 ### Back
to the main ECMgt.com Site: (http://ECMgt.com)
Back to this
issue: (http://ECMgt.com/Dec1999) |
