Internet Studies

Internet company that doesn’t have a foot planted firmly in the real world—with experienced management teams, a physical presence, efficient distribution systems, and ability to make a profit—is domed to fail.

Now customers can bid on excess and overstock merchandise from its [JCPenny] stores and catalogue operations.

The species that continue to evolve and adapt to consumer-driven, technology-fortified forms will most likely survive in the future. That’s why we like to think of this era in business history as another evolutionary stage of commerce rather than a radical, revolutionary one.

Contrary to what financial types may believe, ultimately it is customers who create shareholder value, not financial analysts.

So what exactly is wrong with e-commerce today? For one thing, there is far too much emphasis placed on the “e” or technology component of the equation and not nearly enough on the “commerce” side of the equation.

…it is easy to see the potential for an alliance with Mail Boxes, Etc., with its three thousand plus stores… [or Kinko’s for Amazon or AOL].

Electricity and phones affected a company’s ability to serve its customers, not its need to do so. The need existed earlier. The technologies did not change why people buy products and services; they only changed the method of meeting those needs…

…new technologies rarely change the mission or values of the organization; they just offer new ways to carry out the strategies designed to fulfil company goals.

The concepts of customer service and profitability are constants in the game of commerce. As online pioneer Levi’s discovered, if selling your products online decreases customer satisfaction and profitability, don’t sell online.

…the Internet, though full of possibilities, is nothing more than a marketing tool—a new delivery system of ideas, information and relationships.

…strategy …that is technology-driven and customer-focused—one in which the customer shares center stage with the technology.

At the heart of any successful technology-based strategy is the motivation behind its development its development and implementation. … The best strategies are still those grounded in the principles of human behaviour…

Technology determines what can be offered; consumers determine what will be accepted.

…regardless of industry, understanding the Consumer Decision Process (CDP) model … in vital in evaluating the winner and looser applications in e-commerce.

…the Internet has as much capacity for increasing inequality as decreasing it.

The Internet and websites are not “e-commerce”; they are enablers of e-commerce.

For most firms, product categories, and consumer segments, the Internet is more important as a marketing tool and brand builder than as a sales channel. Customers will search for and evaluate products online more than they will purchase online.

It is more important for winning organizations to master the “commerce” rather than the “e” of e-commerce.

In the long run, the answer will depend on individual firms’ abilities to wed their “e” and “commerce” strategies and create a profitable union.

Resource
Blackwell, R.D. and Stephen, K. (2001), Customers rule: why e-commerce honeymoon is over and where winning businesses go from here, Chapter 1 The E-volution of Commerce. New York, Crown Business.