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| Volume 3, Issue 6 - June, 2004 • E-Commerce Revisited What a difference a decade makes! Back in 1995, I was a part of a panel presentation to the Hand Tools Institute on the Internet. Way back then, the fancy search engines, flash, sound, streaming media and E-Commerce didn’t really exist. The panel members were convinced of the power of the Internet, but honestly, I was more convinced of the power of the electronic database and the potential it had both on and off the Internet. By 1999, I had written a business plan for ToolSource.com and conducted a panel discussion for the National Hardware Show in Chicago entitled, “Hardlines E-Commerce, Is It Working?” That particular presentation was a huge success so we followed it the next year with, “E-Commerce Solutions – Make Your Customer’s Shopping Experience Truly Satisfying.” It really felt like I was on a roll, but 2001 saw many of the dot coms turn into dot bombs. Looking back, it is easy to see that most of today’s survivors built their business on a solid foundation. Sadly 1/3 of the websites I reviewed in 1999 are gone. Upon further investigation we find that over half of the websites reviewed in 1999 have changed substantially or gone out of business altogether. Most of the losses and many of the changes were the result of over exuberance caused by Venture Capitalists who thought the way to make money was to build a website, make it grow and take it public. Profitability was never a consideration. In fact my original plan was ridiculed for being built on the idea of making the business profitable. 2004 had us back at the Hardware Show in Chicago presenting, “What has happened to Hardware on the Internet? or Online Retailing, Then and Now.” Since the bust, the media hasn’t paid much attention to E-Commerce. As usual, they have concentrated on telling us about how bad the traditional economy is rather than trying to find something good to report. The truth is that while traditional bricks and mortar retailing has been in the doldrums, Internet retailing has been growing at 26% per year for the last three years. While at the Hardware Show in Las Vegas, I attended a presentation by the folks at eBay. They are proposing that manufacturers use eBay in the introductory and decline stages of the product life cycle. They already have people like Stanley and Sears selling closeouts, overstocks and refurbished goods on eBay. In a report put out by Bloomberg on March 22nd, “Internet shopping will surge in five years, with one in four of all retail purchases being made over the Internet by 2009 compared with one in 24 in 2003, the Financial Times said, citing figures from Interactive Media Retail Group.” Most distributors and manufacturers have avoided the Internet as a channel to get products to the end consumer. Part of this is because of threats from existing customers and part of it is because the last they heard about E-commerce was when the online e-commerce world collapsed. Much has changed in the last four or five years. In 2000 the number of users with high-speed access was limited and today it is wide spread. Websites have improved dramatically while the cost to build and maintain has come down substantially. Security is much improved and customers are no longer afraid of using their credit cards to buy online. There are some potential dark clouds on the horizon with the consolidation in Search Engines and their efforts to develop more revenue streams around programs like “pay per click.” There is also the problem of getting found as the number of websites continues to grow. Search Engine Optimization becomes ever more complicated. There is also the unresolved issue of sales tax and the potential for some kind of major hacker disaster. Even with these impending threats, who can afford to ignore a marketplace that will represent 25% of all commerce in just five short years? What is your Internet Strategy? • Hardware Show Wars Round 1 of the Hardware Show Wars is over. The AHMA Show in Chicago in its present form is dead. It will take a total remake to have anyone consider spending the money to attend the Chicago Show in 2005. Even the food concessions were closed in 2004. The Reed Hardware Show in Las Vegas had more exhibitors, more attendees and open food concessions. The show had plenty of problems including a confused new products area. Lawn and Garden and Home Decorating dominated. There were lots of Red badges even if some were on people other than buyers. Whether or not this show will be good for the traditional hardware/tool people remains to be seen. Venues like the Homebuilder Show, World of Concrete and others currently look like better options to me as they get the manufacturer closer to the end consumer. • Harvard Management Update As a new, growing business, I am constantly working to present my service favorably. The objective is to increase exposure and recognition as a way to generate interest, contacts and business. The May 2004 issue of “Harvard Management Update” has an article entitled, “Great Expectations: The Key to Great Performance” by Lauren Keller Johnson. The article concludes with a synopsis of the material I wrote for my presentation on “Taking Aim to Improve Your Decision-Making.” If you have access to the Harvard Management Update, I recommend it and hope you will pass along copies to other visionary leaders and business decision-makers. • Reader’s Comments Stemming U.S. Job Losses, April 2004 Think of how much less our health insurance would be if you subtracted the legal costs. Who determined that Lawyers could charge $250.00 to $450.00 per hour.” Thanks Keith, I did miss paying attribution to our legal problem as a contributor to moving off shore. If you have a subject that you would like to see covered in future issues of “Taking Aim,” please send me an email at aim@CannonAdvantage.com.
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Robert E. Cannon "Best Practice" Sales Force
Development Change Management Customer Service Assessment for ISO Requirements Smart Thoughts from Smart People – "In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted." Bertrand Russell
"A life of reaction is a life of slavery, intellectually and spiritually. One must fight for a life of action, not reaction." Rita Mae Brown
"One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes. In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And, the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility." Eleanor Roosevelt
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” Teddy Roosevelt
Taking Aim © 2004 Bob Cannon, The Cannon Advantage Newsletter. All Rights Reserved. The Cannon Advantage visual branding by Zarney Creative. For contact information, click “Resources.” |
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