Glenn - Fascinating story! Stepping back, we have to remember that CSCO and Dell, two wildly successful companies,
sell more than 60% of their products online.
Tom,
These are really business to business. Business to consumer has not been profitable for anyone as of yet. I am talking retailing now not brokerage houses, etc.
So, powerful forces drive us to the web. But, can anyone figure out how to sell retail, profitably over the web? We're
still in the early stages, and it perhaps remains an open question. eBay has a retail business that simply cannot be
duplicated, in breadth and scope, outside the web.
You also have the same question. Ebay though is not retailing. There is a difference.
AMZN has far more experience than anyone else in the more
traditional retail business, and seems to be the most reliable.
This depends upon who you talk to. AMZN clearly likes to say that in their conference calls. I fine many e-commerce sites very reliable. Some are not. Amazon has made errors in the past. All have.
But, they HAVE proved that masses of people WILL purchase retail products on
the web; and that was in doubt two years ago.
This may be a fad such as cigars, etc. Not sure as of yet.
There is a huge gap in the amount of expertise available and the number of projects companies want to develop for
the web; an enormous gap. I think that is Levi's problem: they can't get enough experienced help to make this stuff
work. Many others are in the same boat.
This is the point and I agree completely.
That doesn't mean it can't be done.
I also agre that it has not been proven it cannot be done. I do believe AMZN has too many leases on distribution centers, too much debt and various other problems which will cause them to fail. On the other hand, The Gap's online store is profitable so it can be done.
Glenn |
