ECMgt.com Newsletter: Volume 1, Issue 8 - ECnow.com 1999 trend #03: "Movement of e-commerce to a service industry" and that "outsourcing of e-commerce functions will become very popular."

Thank you for your comments, suggestions and response to our survey question. Please keep them coming. Let us know what you think by sending mailto:ecmgt.comments@ecnow.com. We currently have over 2,400 subscribers, if you like what you read, please let your friends know.

Our next issue deals with what makes consumers buy online. We'd like your opinion on 'whether you think consumers are less concerned about security issues and whether they are more concerned with privacy issues' and 'are companies focusing on non-monetary forms of currency (time, attention, trust & convenience). Please include the city, state/province and country you're from since will publish your initials and geographic info with your response.

Trend Prediction: Product Delivery and After-Sale Service becoming Key Differentiators

As we enter the last business quarter of the 20^th century, ECnow.com's number two top trend prediction for 1999 is on target. This prediction is that "companies will begin to recognize that the value-added activity begins after the customer hits 'submit order' and that "customer service will become the point of differentiation."

In 1995-96, creating a site on the Internet was cool. Just having a presence (e.g. brochureware) was considered leading edge. In 1997-98, generating sales was considered the Holy Grail. The 1998 Christmas season which generated $3.1b in retail sales for November and December validated the Internet as a viable commercial vehicle. The Holy Grail for 1999-2000 is the 1-to-1 relationship in both sales and service, with existing customers.

The 1999 holiday season is expected to be at least double that of 1998. While Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner Group, Inc. forecasts retails sales of $12.2 billion for the 1999 holiday season, Jupiter Communications forecasts online retail sales for the months of November and December to be $6 billion. The Jupiter estimates project that 10 million online users will begin shopping in 1999 and many will make their first online purchases during the holiday season. This is the time that the online retailer needs to make a good impression. According to one of ECMgt.com's readers (M.K., Baldwin, New York, USA), "You have one 1st chance to keep a customer loyal. If the fulfillment systems are not in place, your customers will be disappointed and will not return. A quirky website may be overlooked but slow incompetent delivery is inexcusable."

ECnow.com believes it's a matter of touch-points. A company has a certain number of opportunities to interact with its customers and each interaction (e.g. touch-point) has to be a positive or at least a neutral experience. A negative touch-point could cause a company to lose a customer for life. In the simplest form, a company has 5 touch points:

Any number of these touch-points can be serviced internally or outsourced (see last month's article on outsourcing http://ecmgt.com/v1.08/eye.e-trends.htm) as long as the company owns and manages the entire experience.

According to a recently released study of 1,019 Internet users in the United States who go online for personal use conducted by the Mercer Management Consulting Group, the Internet "should lead to significant profits, but only for those companies able to create and maintain strong relationships with their customers." The study found that: "Hybrid 'click and mortar' business designs, which combine elements of traditional and online businesses, may play a significant role in the future." The key elements here are the infrastructure touch-points for fulfillment and customer service.

Some retailers have delayed their e-commerce efforts until they feel they can provide the same quality service and fulfillment in the online world that they provide in the physical world. This is a smart decision, although it's important not to wait too long before getting online. If your company doesn't have a significant effort to incorporate the Internet into your existing business operation, you should. If you don’t, be prepared to see your business dissipate.

Some companies that don't have the fulfillment infrastructure in place are moving to vendors for help. Their choices include traditional fulfillment companies, like UPS, or new e-commerce entrants, like Webvan.com or shipper.com, or software companies, like Yantra. "Companies come to Yantra because Fulfillment is a critical element of customer retention. If you make a mistake in order status, shipping, handling or returns, it leads to customer dissatisfaction" said Devdutt Yellurkar, President and CEO of Yantra. Other notable Yantra customers include:

Yantra's E-Commerce Backend Infrastructure appears to scale from relatively simple transaction volumes of small web merchants to large-scale transactions of NetMarket makers like Sciquest.com with over 1,000,000 SKUs with over 3,000 suppliers.

Another product which is designed to automate interactions between a number of potential customer touch-points is from a company called Delano Technology. An interesting picture of their vision is available here: http://www.delanotech.com/solutions/index.asp. "By automating and managing interactions with our customers, this unique technology gives us the opportunity to generate repeat sales, build trust in the advice we offer and the products we recommend, and most importantly, foster a strong sense of customer loyalty" says Robert Haft, chairman and CEO at Vitamins.com, a Delano Technology customer.

Customer service and interaction both in the pre-sales and post-sales sides are extremely important. According to Dataquest, during 1998 600,000 households experienced problems shopping online. The main problem was the inability to contact the merchant's customer service department via e-mail. According to a recent study released from e-buyersguide.com, only 17% of e-tailers provided "real-time" online customer service. Only 16% of those who contacted an e-retailer with an online question received a response within an hour and 23% received no response at all. This is not a good way to create a positive experience with a customer. "The immediacy and convenience of the Internet works both ways in customer relationship management," said Mary Helen Gillespie, president of e-BuyersGuide.com. "Online merchants who do not respond to customers in "cyber" time risk losing sales. And those who do not respond at all will lose brand equity as well. It’s Business 101: Don’t ignore your customers. Plus, it’s not just bad business, it’s extremely rude even by today’s standards."

In addition to Dell, who is known for good customer service and has written the feature article this month http://ecmgt.com/Oct1999.feature.article.htm, Cisco is also well known for it's good customer service. "Just because people are buying your product doesn't mean they're happy with you. You need to perform customer satisfaction surveys to see what they are thinking" according to Barbara Jones, Director of Customer Service at Cisco. "Part of the culture is to be paranoid, we can't just sit back and say we're number 1. We believe that we are always 2 years away from being put out of business. We need to constantly think about this."

Cisco feels so strongly about customer service that 30% of everyone's bonus is based on achieving a customer satisfaction goal. Yes, that's everyone's bonus; over 20,000 employees. Talk about aligning goals throughout the entire company! In addition to running a corporate survey that goes out to a random set of customers annually, the customer care organization runs a web-based customer survey twice a year. Cisco outsources this task to http://www.researchassociates.com, who helped generate an 18% return rate (900 completed out of 5,000 polled) for the last survey. The survey asks about the customer's experience with the e-commerce tools, the overall customer service experience and the customer's feelings toward the customer service department. Cisco also trains their customer service representatives to ask random questions about how Cisco can make the customer experience better.

To survive in the next couple of years, it will not only be important to be online, but to deliver high-quality service and support to your customers and deliver your product in an efficient manner. Here is a list companies that might be able to help.

Delano Technology

Delano Technology Corporation's Executive Guide to Solutions that Drive Measurable Returns on your e-Investments

COMPLIMENTARY BRIEFINGS

Interact with your extended enterprise
Develop applications 10-20 times faster
Deploy applications in less than 8 weeks
Receive unprecedented ROI

For more information or to register: http://www.delanotech.com/briefings

CommerceNet 99

CommerceNet 99 is an invitation-only, two-and-a-half-day executive conference where worldwide industry leaders, eCommerce innovators, forward-thinking analysts, and entrepreneurs will explore the strategic issues shaping the future of eCommerce. Experience unparalleled networking opportunites and focused sessions led by industry experts. Dates: 1-3 November 1999. Location: San Diego, California. More information: http://www.commerce.net/cn99.

ConnectInc.com

ConnectInc.com (Nasdaq: CNKT) delivers next-generation Java technology-based electronic commerce solutions for DotCom startups, vertical portals, infomediaries and trading communities. The company has assisted B2B pioneers like Nortel and ATT Wireless, and new web startups like NextMonet.com and Promedix.com in building category-defining, market-maker applications based on its MarketStream application software. Visit us online at http://www.connectinc.com

Openconsult.com

Yes, putting up a Web site is easy. But add words like EFFECTIVE, SCALABLE, and SUCCESSFUL, and it gets a lot harder. That’s why having OpenConsult on your next e-business project is a must! Go to http://www.openconsult.com/ecnow for a FREE initial consultation.

Web Design, Intranet/Extranet, E-commerce Solutions
770-612-9706 or 1-800-484-5561 (code 4225)
(mailto:info@openconsult.com)

Workz.com

Workz.com is an online business resource center loaded with thousands of articles, links, techniques, and step-by-step checklists designed with small business Web promotion in mind. Get expert advice on driving traffic, e-commerce, banner creation, search engine submission, peer-to-peer networking, and more.

Normally $49 (USD) per year, Membership is free to ECMgt.com subscribers. Sign up now at: http://www.workz.com/ecnow.

E-Support – Improving the customer experience at Dell
By Bob Riazzi
Services Marketing Director, Dell Computer Corporation
September 27, 1999

Yesterday's hardware industry model of on-site and telephone support certainly improved the customer's experience with computers. Customers with problems could call a technician, get issues resolved and quickly get back to business. But we've squeezed and maximized these capabilities. Reducing resolution times, fixing problems before they occur and resolving issues electronically comprise the next step in improving the customer experience. Minimizing the time customers spend on problems maximizes the time they spend managing and growing their businesses.

The Internet, with its capacity to deliver intuitive, unassisted and automated problem resolution capabilities, is the key enabler of the shift to electronic support (e-support). Customers, manufacturers and service providers are recognizing this paradigm change and are positioning themselves to realize the benefits: resolution times go down; system availability goes up; costs are reduced; everybody wins.

A Successful Online Support System Begins with the Customer

Customers tell us that when it comes to system investment, two things are important: uptime and availability. The cost of downtime for enterprise customers is now estimated to range up to $13,000 a minute. E-support responds to customers' demands for uptime and availability: it provides a better, more cost- and time-efficient way to help customers solve problems, prevent problems and even upgrade their systems – all with minimal on-site service technician involvement.

E-support is a comprehensive, integrated set of Internet-enabled customer support tools, knowledge bases, diagnostics and problem-resolution capabilities. This technology enables a customer to receive information, proactive alerts, and unassisted or automated support for correcting problems. Since customers require stringent levels of security and confidentiality, e-support must operate with user-controlled safeguards that preserve privacy.

Some key characteristics that govern the usefulness of e-support are (1) personalizing support in the context of the customer's environment; (2) providing a depth of knowledge that allows first-time, accurate resolution; (3) supplying information that is real-time, current and includes input from the industry at large.

Building Programs that Enhance the Customer Experience

At Dell, our move toward a more complete customer experience began with 30-day money back hardware guarantees, toll-free telephone support for the life of the computer, and extended warranties. Next we added installation services, next business day resolution, a 4-hour response option, the ability to purchase a variety of peripherals, software and accessories direct from Dell, and custom factory integration of hardware and software.

Now we've added "E-Support Direct from Dell," part of a complete online experience designed to help customers find and implement the help they need, quickly and easily, online.

Another part of our online enterprise support effort is providing free private, customized Intranet sites to over 27,000 corporate, government, education and institutional customers. These Intranet sites contain enterprise-specific pricing, options for paperless ordering and billing, and advanced help-desk support or asset management information.

What are the benefits to customers? Lower cost of ownership through increased systems uptime and far more efficient and effective diagnostics and support. By letting customers interact directly with online self-help tools and knowledge bases, we've seen a marked improvement in issue-resolution time, proactive alerting and resolution before failure occurs, as well as an increase in first-time resolution. Customers are able to detect, diagnose and resolve most of their own problems, creating a high sense of satisfaction and control.

E-Support Marketplace: Opportunity for Growth and Results

We expect that by the end of 2000, more than 50% of our customers will be using E-Support. In fact, International Data Corporation (IDC) expects the overall e-support marketplace to grow to $10.4 billion annually from 1998's $1.9 billion.

Already Dell's online support usage is increasing rapidly. Some results include the following:

Another aspect of online support is an Internet-based systems management and support solution that digitally detects system problems. Available on one server line, we expect to make this capability available across the entire product line by the end of 2000.

The hardware industry has come a long way from break-fix via telephone and on-site support to a complete online experience. Eventually, corporate and individual computer system users alike can look forward to proactive, self-maintaining computing environments across the entire spectrum of use. Imagine: systems that maintain themselves online. It's the ultimate in customer support, and it's becoming possible.

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

The topic for October focuses on what happens after the Web customer submits an order. It's a three-part question:

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In today's fast paced society, instant messaging, instant e-mail etc., there is this expectation that when you deal with a company on-line, you expect instant service. I think that is the "perceived advantage of shopping or doing business on the web. The expectation is your orders are placed immediately and delivered immediately at lower cost due to that lack of the so called middle man. So if a company on the web is slow to respond, or their telephone ordering service is faster than using the web, then why use them? I think many customers expect the same thing I do. Fast service, ease of use, good follow up, cheaper price, and service after the sale. (R.C., Santa Clara, California, USA)

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Basically, I would have to say customer service is the most important way in which to retain customers and add greater value to a service or product. Customer service can also boost sales by interacting with a customer and educating them about special features or additional tools that can be added to a service or product. (J.M., Boston, Massachusetts, USA)

***
Fulfillment and customer service are where "the rubber meets the road" in any business, and always have been. Marketing, branding and sales efforts can succeed wildly at "getting eyeballs", or showroom visits in the case of traditional retailing ... but if the customer does not receive genuine value-add and a pleasant experience "after the sale", they will wander off to try the competition.

Web-based enterprises have a significant opportunity to deliver this, if their delivery system processes are streamlined and smoothly integrated with their e-commerce infrastructure. As an example, Amazon.com e-mails their customers with various status and shipment confirmation checks, which gives the impression that quality control is alive and well. And follow-up e-mails after a discreet period of time ensure that this impression continues, as well as keeping the enterprise in the customer's top of mind. (S.S. Toronto, CANADA)

***
It is more important than selling because fulfillment and customer service are the attributes that creates confidence in your customers. If your customer has confidence in you, it is more likely that he/she will come back to you again and again. Web site attributes that I've seen being applied to accomplish these goals include order tracking, post sale customer feedback, and sites (like Furniture.com) that have their customer service representatives talking to their customer directly about status, delivery and other questions. (G.M., Laurel, Maryland, USA)

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I attribute a high level of urgency to fulfillment in the customer service equation. Customer service is really the customer's perception of your company that is informed by every contact the customer has over time -- we refer to this as the 'Branded Experience'. Customer service is often referred to in the aggregate, but it is built upon a foundation of individual experiences. The customer judges each contact based on the their expectations. A contact might be a web-site visit, a phone call, or simply receiving and opening a parcel, and maybe even returning a product…Many online businesses have decided to deploy certain services on a manual (blind) or outsourced basis. These choices lead to lost opportunities to understand customers and build valuable relationships. Some of these include email notification of progress, heavily staffed call-centers, blind returns and credit policies, free shipping. (B.S., Acton, Massachusetts, USA)

***
Fulfillment and customer service are critical to retaining customers and growing an e-commerce site. You may get a customer to buy once from you, but if you are slow in fulfilling the order or you don't respond immediately to customer service requests, then that customer will not return. The switching cost for shopping at a different site is zero, or much closer to zero than the cost of finding another store in the brick and mortar world. E-commerce is a new way of doing business, but it is still a personal experience for buyers. If the shopping experience is bad, then the customer will not return.

Note these differentiators are what make commerce successful, not just e-commerce: faster response to email, faster problem resolution, no hassle returns/exchanges/refunds, easy access to a live person for problem resolution, on time delivery of the right product. (M.P., Scottsdale, Arizona, USA)

***
Our company is very customer service focused. We have made customer service a #1 priority for a long time. Now we're facing the issue of online customer service. Tosses a wrench in the traditional wheel of the world of customer service. Customers are always ready for someone to serve them better. Getting your customer buy in may be easier than getting the buy-in and cooperation from a staff of representatives who have been servicing customers for decades. I've heard comments like, "It just won't be personal anymore" over and over again. We're facing this issue today like so many other companies. I'll be interested in any feedback anyone has regarding this issue and how they are making it work. (S.H., Mount Vernon, New York, USA)

***
Customer service is critical. It is as important as any other component of the customer experience. Customer service and fulfillment are key points of differentiation in the customer's mind, especially as it relates to repeat business. Those businesses who take care of the customer on the back end will be rewarded with repeat business, those who do not will find customers extremely reluctant to repeat, regardless if performance has improved. Activities companies can perform in this area include:

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Customers are most sensitive to service. They are frustrated by voice-mail and other automated services with too many selections. They want a most direct in and direct out once they have transacted their business. Surfers, surf and buyers buy, we should never loose sight of this. (L.J., Brossard, CANADA)

***
Web sites have to be easy to use. The entire customer experience has to be considered when a customer visits your site. At our company, we would like to make that experience as simple and pleasant as possible. We are currently including many new features including text and voice assistant programs to help our customers once we go live. (F.S., New York, USA)

***
Good customer service is critical to small business success, but it's often overlooked. The order fulfillment process must be efficient, because online shopping loses its appeal and convenience when customers have to chase down orders or fight for refunds. It can be hard for me as a small business owner to devote the extra time and resources that good customer service requires, but it does pay off in the long run. Time or price or overall satisfaction guarantees can seem costly, but I think the confidence that they provide is worth it. (M.T., Tampa, Florida, USA)

***
Customer service is of the upmost importance. One's reputation depends on it. Word of mouth travels about 9 times faster than other forms of advertising. Companies that do not respond to customers' requests will fall behind those that treat every customer with respect. (C.P., San Jose, California, USA)

***
Customer service expectations on the web have been escalated due to the high value companies such as Amazon.com have placed on them. In the world of Internet, there is no way to take a product back, stand at a customer support desk or replace a product. E-commerce companies need to adapt the principles of direct marketers in order to promote sales. They typically have return policies and money-back guarantees displayed all over their catalogs that ensure customers of their safety. (J.G., Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA)

***
Customer service and fulfillment are the utmost key to business. They are becoming now and in future will be the deciding factors of who wins. (K.B., San Francisco, California, USA)

***
Fulfillment and customer service are becoming a point of differentiation to a degree. They certainly separate the "men" from the "boys" in terms of web reselling. Most anyone can set up a web site on which you can buy something and there are lots of third party companies that will provide the "behind the buy button" financial processing and customer notifications. However, only larger companies that have a significant volume of e-commerce business can secure relationships with the major package carriers (FedEx, UPS, etc.) to use them as distribution centers, offering next day delivery even for orders placed very late in the day. It also requires a significant staffing commitment to provide 24-hour customer service. In my experience, you can differentiate a company who has a significant business commitment to e-commerce by their fulfillment and service policies. If you can't get next day shipping on orders placed after noon (or not at all) at customer service is available only 9 - 5, you're dealing with a smaller company or one for whom e-commerce is not a major part of their business. If you can order up until midnight (or later) and still get your shipment the next day and can talk to a live customer service person 24/7, you are dealing with an e-commerce powerhouse. (P.N., San Jose, California, USA)

***
Fulfillment is a necessity if you want a customer to return regularly. Customer service is a necessity to run a business. Sites which ignore fulfillment can be recognized as they gradually fall out of importance. Those who neglect customer service are instant failures. (D.A., INDIA)

***
Web sites are differentiating themselves by adding value added services such as remembering what the customer buys, setting up databases to remember birthdays and special events. A personal touch, the human touch, will become more important as sites compete for dollars. Engagement in chat rooms and special events can bring more people to a site as well. Once, just once, I ordered something from the Smarter Image. They send me coupons all the time for as much as $50 on their products.This is very seductive. If I had gone to their real store, would they have done this? I don't think so. (K.B., San Jose, California, USA)

***
Yes, these areas are becoming key points of differentiation for the referral to friends with the same needs. No service or bad service means no further business with the site. Companies can differentiate themselves through their reactivity to requests, the completeness of information delivered, the efficiency of provided help, etc. (F.D., Hayward, California, USA)

***
I believe that these points are just beginning to become a key point of differentiation. As more consumers start making more frequent purchases on the Web their experience base will grow (and many will share this info with others) and sites not addressing these areas will be actively discriminated against. (C.G., Santa Cruz, California, USA)

***
It depends on how you view total customer relationship management (CRM)? If you value CRM, then both fulfillment and customer service are important and must be budgeted as part of CRM. A bad experience can put a potential repeat customer off the producer/service provider. Since these are the most valuable type of customer, you are killing the golden goose if you upset them.

By providing data that keeps customers informed about their product or the service they use. For example, where the product is in the shipping cycle? When service can be expected? What problems are known to exist with the product and what are the work-arounds and/or corrective actions being taken? How fast customer service (CS) responds, how knowledgeable about the goods or service? What authority does CS have to fix the problem? All of these can lead to positive or negative feelings towards the vendor or service provider. There are a myriad ways of improving fulfillment and CS, but the easiest and cheapest is to be as open and honest as possible. Don't make excuses, deal with them as best as possible, keep customers informed, and respond quickly and with courtesy. (R.C., Menlo Park, California, USA)

***
If a company and its employees take ownership for the experience that is the only differentiation that I need to make me a loyal buyer. (M.G., San Francisco, California, USA)

***
The importance is paramount to me in terms of building customer relationships. From the consumers point of view it is an essential element of honor and trust that needs to exist in a business relationship as much as in any other relationship. It also guarantees repeat business for the seller as well as added business, since in most cases people will spread the word if a company provides outstanding or even just reliable service. There is a saying that I love, by Steven Pinker who is a cognitive scientist. I've changed it around a little to fit into the business theme that we are discussing. 'Customer Service is the Jewel in the Crown of Business.'

In this point in time I believe more than ever before, fulfillment and customer service are key points of differentiation in today's business strategies. Reasons are that the competition is at such an intense level. There are many companies who offer great products at great prices. The way your company will be remembered by a customer is how he was dealt with. How much hassle he underwent or on the other hand how easy it was to get his products. Of course the greatest tribute and assurance for future business success is the word of mouth recommendation of people who had a wonderful experience dealing with your company.(G.S., San Jose, California, USA)

***
I like to know that there is a person out there that I can call for help. If I need assistance, I really appreciate a friendly customer service rep. Their attitude sticks in my mind for the next time I'm shopping online. If I get my order on time-great, if not- I probably won't use the service again. (NP - Portland, Oregon, USA)

***
Fulfillment and customer service via the web is not simply putting CGI scripts in front of existing backend systems. Customer service reps in most companies have months of training in their products and services. They know how to use the system…Those that do it well will prosper. Those that do it poorly will die. (G., Silicon Valley, California, USA)

***
The importance of customer should be ranked in the top 3 of requirements for a site.

In the end, the sites that promote the best customer experiences will be the sites that will continue to be selected, assuming the brand they offer is needed. (A.L., Fremont, California, USA)

***
It seems that traditionally customer service has been seen as a separate entity to the sale items in question. Going back a bit in time, the vendor competed using the notion of a superior product. More recently, the buzz seems to be about value added service for your products. This tends to indicate a shift in focus away from the product towards the customer. The difference in nature and cost of a particular product as opposed to an opposition product seems to be becoming increasingly smaller. Vendors are therefore looking for different avenues to compete in. With this in mind, the rise in focus on customer support seems a natural progression. This new battleground is obviously important, but I think the focus is still not quite right. Web vendors should see customer services as the product. The value added service, promptness, flexibility and fulfillment of the order IS actually what the vendor is selling. Changing focus to place more emphasis on this, instead of lumping value added services etc. onto the end of a marketing pitch aimed at the product will ensure an effective edge in the marketplace. (G.C., Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA)

***
What I have found is that many e commerce enabled etailers or retailers at first outsource services from web hosting, back office, fulfillment etc. As their business grows they may take some of these processes in-house.

You have one 1st chance to keep a customer loyal. If the fulfillment systems are not in place, your customers will be disappointed and will not return. A quirky website may be overlooked but slow incompetent delivery is inexcusable. (M.K., Baldwin, New York, USA)

***
Fulfillment on the web seems strong, but I have seen a lack of customer service. I do get irritated by this fact. With brick and mortar stores as well, oftentimes you see strong customer service from their 1-800 lines but when you need to call customer service, you hear things like, "well, I don't really know how to look those orders up. Let me go upstairs and find out." (L.B., Silicon Valley, California, USA)

***
I had a recent encounter with an order on Barnes and Noble. com, where I placed an order for several books. Neither of the books I ordered over three weeks ago have yet to arrive and I was told that it would 3-6 working days. I have never had this problem with Amazon.com! I will never order from BN.com again! (K.C., Atlanta, Georgia, USA)

***
The number one goal is to ship within 24 hours. I haven't seen sites differentiate themselves through customer service and fulfillment, but maybe folks like Gomez will report on these stats. (B.N., Dedham, Massachusetts, USA)

***
I've seen fulfillment as an order qualifier - it eliminates some vendors but does not seem to serve as differentiation.The bar keeps getting higher in terms of expectations on ease of use and email confirmations of order and shipment but I have not seen sites where it moved much beyond this. (S.A., Menlo Park, California, USA)

E-STRATEGIES NEWS
This section sponsored by - ECnow.com, please visit them at http://www.ecnow.com

ToC

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1999: The Year Of The Customer
Business can't survive over the long term without loyal customers. That seems obvious- but not everyone gets it, as shown by the remarkable number of businesses in which employees treat customers rudely or even crudely.

Customer At The Core
The key metric for many of the companies that made the 1999 InformationWeek 500 list is their strategy for improving relationships with customers. These companies are finding ways to apply IT to a standard business objective: keeping custom

CheckFree to offer services via Exite@Home
CheckFree plans to start offering its online billing services through a major Internet portal and a new online bank before the end of the year, a spokeswoman said today.

GE brings Net things to life
General Electric, the second-largest U.S. company by market value, said it plans to create a Web site to sell such consumer services and products as mortgages.

Bolt.com Launches User-Created Store
Teen site Bolt.com has launched an e-commerce model in which its new Bolt Store will sell merchandise determined solely by its audience of three million teens.

Data Quality Moves To The Forefront
E-commerce And Customer-Relationship Management Have Given A New Urgency To Compiling Clean, Consolidated Customer Information

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eCenter Helps Users Help Themselves
Servicesoft Technologies Inc.'s new eCenter 1.0 enables a company to tie together its online help like never before by combining a knowledge-base system and a rules-based e-mail system for call centers.

Total E-Commerce Package
Silknet eCommerce is a Web application that integrates E-commerce transactions with customer-service capabilities. The application gives companies a more complete product to handle customer interactions and makes it easier for customers to do business with companies online.

Insurer Deploys Candle Platform For Customer Management App
AXA Financial Inc., until last week known as The Equitable Companies Inc., has just deployed its first commercial middleware product after years of developing homegrown software to link legacy and front-end systems.

Tool Taps FAQs For Better Support
Right Now Technologies last week released a new version of its customer service platform that it says will help e-commerce sites better interact with their customers.

Virgin to unveil online music service
Virgin Entertainment Group today will launch an online service dubbed Virgin JamCast that delivers music without the wait normally associated with downloading over traditional dial-up modems.

Sun-Netscape alliance polishes e-commerce package
The Sun-Netscape alliance is sprucing up its e-commerce software with features aimed at letting businesses buy goods from their suppliers online.

IBM revamps software family for Web building
Big Blue will ship new versions of its VisualAge development tool for the Java programming language and update its WebSphere application servers in October. An application server is software that sits between a Web browser and back-end database and runs the transactions and business logic of an application.

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E-Service At Hub Of Online
Mike Regan, senior global E-marketing manager for Specialized Bicycle Components Inc., seems to be in a good place. The 24-year-old company is growing by about 26% annually. It has a global distribution channel and strong brand awareness.

When Customers Are King
As traditional businesses become customer-driven enterprises, IT organizations find themselves in the middle of that transformation, providing the technological foundation-and often the cultural impetus-to make it happen.

Customer Service And Apple Pie? It's All Part Of What IT Brings To The Table.
Hot apple pie with creamy vanilla ice cream. Lemonade just like Grandma's. Meat loaf, chicken pot pie, and other treats that take us back to simpler times.

Traditional Values In A High-Tech World
Intense competition has shaken up most markets in the United States, but nowhere is that more apparent than in the traditional American industries of metals and natural resources, which continue to be hammered from fast-moving usurpers.

IT Brings Manufacturers Closer To Customers
From makers of cereal boxes to producers of rocket boosters, the Internet, coupled with off-the-shelf and custom-built applications, is bringing manufacturers closer to their customers and suppliers.

IT Adds The Personal Touch
While big business has reduced the mom-and-pop shop to a rarely seen anachronism, it has never fully embraced the customer as well as smaller, more intimate enterprises. Ironically, computers are putting the personal touch back into business.

From Training On Demand To Full-Service Customer Care, It's All Online
Much of the innovation in the IT industry can be summed up in one word: online. It's not, however, simple E-commerce.

Online Shoppers Frustrated By Confusing Sites
A research company estimates online retailers could lose as much revenue as the entire retail industry is set to earn during the upcoming holiday shopping season.

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Some Web sites trying to help the e-buyer beware
Do you ever get the feeling as a consumer, even an electronic consumer, that it's just you against the world? You should, and it's a pretty old concept. It's called caveat emptor, or, let the buyer beware.

E-commerce sites not quite at your service
Does shopping make you happy? I often wonder if the bozos focusing on the "customer experience" realize that I'm just going to their site to purchase something-I'm not looking for a religious experience. My idea of a good shopping expedition is one that ends quickly, but most sites are trying to be sticky, like hiding the doors in a shopping mall.

Lands' End gives Web shopping the personal touch
To help eliminate the isolation of online shopping, the catalog apparel retailer this week launched two new services on its Web site--"Lands' End Live" and "Shop With a Friend." The features will enable two people at separate locations to shop together and compare notes on what to buy through instant chat. The company said shoppers need no special software or plug-in to participate beyond a browser.

Visa forms separate Net unit
Stepping up its e-commerce efforts, Visa USA today launched eVisa, a separate Internet unit.
The new unit, led by Visa's former chief marketing officer Michael Beindorff, will focus on helping its bank members differentiate themselves and compete online. It also is charged with boosting acceptance of the Visa brand among merchants by developing online standards and technology and new products, said Sean Healy, a company spokesman.

Ford ropes off e-commerce business
Ford Motor Company is organizing all of its various e-commerce efforts into a new enterprise, the company announced today.

eBay to ban some music and software sales
eBay will prohibit the sale of software and music on recordable compact discs and backup software packages, except when the seller is the copyright owner, according to a message posted today on the company's Web site.

SUPPLY CHAIN NEWS
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ToC

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B2B E-Commerce Market Predicted to Hit $1.5 Trillion by 2004
A new industry report says that the B2B e-commerce market in the United States will grow to approximately $1.5 trillion by 2004 from a base of $39 billion in 1998.

E-tail sales to reach $126 billion by 2003
The U.S. market for online retail sales will increase to $125.6 billion in 2003 from $11.5 billion last year as shoppers become less worried about the security of Internet purchases and as more traditional retailers offer online shopping, according to a study by The Yankee Group.

Ariba Seals E-Commerce Deals, Unveils New Products
Ariba Tuesday rolled out several new deals and products for business-to-business e-commerce, including agreements with J.D. Edwards, Microsoft Corp. and US Bancorp.

Inacom Readies E-Business Unit, Ariba Intranet Solution
Network integrator Inacom Corp. is adding an E-business unit and creating additional service offerings around two new products.

Distributors Hold The Key -- Building A Backbone For E-Sales
Picking, packing and shipping has never been viewed as a glamorous business, even in the world of high technology. But distributors are taking on a new luster thanks to the rising tide of Internet reselling.

SAP banks on e-business portal
SAP doesn't intend to become a Web retailer like Amazon.com. Nor does it plan to run auctions as eBay does. Instead, SAP hopes to expand its stake in the business-to-business e-commerce market and build the largest global network of business buyers and sellers online.

E-Commerce Is A Key Ingredient Of Supply-Chain Management In The Food Industry
Let's be frank. Companies in the food and beverage industry haven't been the most aggressive IT users in recent years.

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China may alter Net investment laws
China's laws do not permit foreign investors to provide Internet content or servers, but the legal framework could be changed by the end of the year, Minister of Information Industry Wu Jichuan said today. He said issues related to Internet investment by foreigners are now under discussion, but he offered no clue as to what the resolution might be.

Bill would prohibit Net taxes
While a congressional commission studies Net taxation, McCain (R-Arizona), who is chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, has introduced legislation to make a moratorium on "discriminatory" Net taxes permanent.

Sales Tax Would Harm E-Commerce
Seventy-five percent of online buyers will buy less on the Internet if sales taxes are instituted on the World Wide Web, according to a survey by BizRate.com.

White House proposes looser crypto exports
The federal government took a substantial step today toward loosening controversial restrictions on the export of data-encryption software.

Comparison shopping sites in copycat lawsuit
Priceman, a relative newcomer to the comparison shopping business, lifted verbatim passages and services from a competing Web site, a federal lawsuit filed this week alleges.

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Budget joins Priceline's Net service
Budget Group, the third-largest U.S. auto-rental company, agreed to join Priceline.com's planned Internet name-your-price car-rental service as Budget seeks more online business. Financial terms of the three-year agreement were not disclosed. The venture will replace its own online bidding service, called BidBudget, started in May, Budget said.

Beyond.com Buys European Online Software Seller
Online software retailer Beyond.com Wednesday bought Paris-based online software reseller SoftGallery SARL, marking Beyond.com's expansion into Europe

Softbank increases stake in Buy.com
Buy.com, an Internet retailer, agreed to sell a stake to a group led by Japan's Softbank for $165 million to help the closely held company expand in Europe and Japan.

Pinacor partners with iTool.com -- To build reseller Web sites
Pinacor Inc. entered a partnership with iTool.com Inc. to build E-commerce sites for resellers.

Leading Net sites team on auctions to catch eBay
The companies will share auction listings so that an item listed on one site can be found throughout the network, said Susan Zaney, vice president of marketing at Woburn, Massachusetts-based FairMarket. FairMarket will be responsible for managing the new network, and already conducts auctions for Lycos and Dell. The venture marks Microsoft's first venture into online auctions.

IBM acquires Web-based security firm
In a move to boost its e-business offerings, IBM today agreed to acquire Dascom, a maker of Web-based security products.

Microsoft, Cirrus team on Net music
Microsoft said Cirrus Logic will unveil a new audio chip next month designed to work with Microsoft software in portable music devices, in a bid to grab a bigger share of the fast-growing online music business.

Inktomi adds to Web service arsenal
Inktomi, which supplies software and services to Internet service providers, today agreed to buy privately held WebSpective for $106 million in a stock swap.

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HomeGrocer.com appoints new CEO
HomeGrocer.com, a closely held online grocer, named former Citicorp and Federal Express executive.

AutoNation nabs Mercedes-Benz CEO
Leading car retailer AutoNation said Friday that Michael J. Jackson, the chief executive officer of Mercedes-Benz USA, will become AutoNation's chief executive on October 11.

Peapod taps AT&T exec as president
Online grocer Peapod said it named AT&T executive Bill Malloy as president and chief executive. Malloy, 46, was formerly executive vice president of AT&T's wireless operations, the largest in the United States. Malloy succeeds Andrew Parkinson, chairman and a cofounder of Peapod, as president and CEO. He will also join Peapod's board

NBC exec joins Primedia as CEO
Primedia, publisher of Seventeen, New York, and other publications, named Thomas Rogers, president of General Electric's NBC cable unit, as chief executive in a move to further intertwine its print, video, and Internet businesses.

Intuit CEO steps down
Intuit said that chief executive Bill Harris, architect of the company's Internet strategy, resigned to return to his roots as an entrepreneur.

MISCELLANEOUS INFO

Each year the staff at Beloit College in Wisconsin puts together a list to try to give the faculty a sense of the mindset of that year's incoming freshmen. Here are a couple items from this year's list:

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Distribution & Fulfillment	http://www.shipper.com
	http://www.webvan.com
	http://www.wwlog.com (UPS)
	http://www.yantra.com/index.html
Customer support and Interaction	http://www.convergys.com
	http://www.delanotech.com
	http://www.eshare.com
	http://www.webcallback.com
	http://www.brigadesolutions.com
E-mail Support and Customer Interaction	http://www.brightware.com
	http://www.kana.com
	http://www.egain.com
	http://www.mustang.com
	http://www.yy.com

ECMgt.com brought to you by ECnow.com
Your Link to Worldwide eCommerce Developments
October 1, 1999 2,400 subscribers Volume 1, No. 09
AVAILABLE ONLINE AT http://ECMgt.com
VIEW THIS ISSUE WITH HTML AT http://ecmgt.com/Oct1999

A Successful Online Support System Begins with the Customer

Building Programs that Enhance the Customer Experience

E-Support Marketplace: Opportunity for Growth and Results

MISCELLANEOUS INFO

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Copyright © 1999-2009 by ECnow.com, Inc., All rights reserved

ECMgt.com brought to you by ECnow.com Your Link to Worldwide eCommerce Developments October 1, 1999 *2,400 subscribers* Volume 1, No. 09 AVAILABLE ONLINE AT http://ECMgt.com VIEW THIS ISSUE WITH HTML AT http://ecmgt.com/Oct1999

A Successful Online Support System Begins with the Customer

Building Programs that Enhance the Customer Experience

E-Support Marketplace: Opportunity for Growth and Results

MISCELLANEOUS INFO

Home | Express Your View | eZine Signup | About ECMgt.com eCommerce Resources | eCommerce Examples | Internet Marketing Tactics

ECMgt.com is produced by ECnow.com (http://ecnow.com) 1-408-257-3000 (Phone), 1-603-843-0769 (eFax) E-mail: General (VMS3.Executive.Producer@ecnow.com), Webmaster (webmaster@ecnow.com) Copyright © 1999-2009 by ECnow.com, Inc., All rights reserved

ECMgt.com brought to you by ECnow.com
Your Link to Worldwide eCommerce Developments
October 1, 1999 2,400 subscribers Volume 1, No. 09
AVAILABLE ONLINE AT http://ECMgt.com
VIEW THIS ISSUE WITH HTML AT http://ecmgt.com/Oct1999

Home | Express Your View | eZine Signup | About ECMgt.com
eCommerce Resources | eCommerce Examples | Internet Marketing Tactics

ECMgt.com is produced by ECnow.com (http://ecnow.com)
1-408-257-3000 (Phone), 1-603-843-0769 (eFax)
E-mail: General (VMS3.Executive.Producer@ecnow.com), Webmaster (webmaster@ecnow.com)
Copyright © 1999-2009 by ECnow.com, Inc., All rights reserved