Intel is making some very bullish comments about the future of commerce on the internet. " As examples, Eckelmann pointed to Schuhhaus Eduard Meier, a German shoe retailer that has been in business since 1596, which now lets customers view and order shoes over the Internet. Eduard Meier said that 300 people visited its Web site on Thursday and that half of them later came into its stores."
I know FEET sells shoes over the internet, but I doubt it is more than a trivial part of their business now. People like to try the shoes on before they buy them, so that is an obstacle, but the internet has pricing, convenience, and selection advantages.
I wouldn't mind seeing FEET valued like an internet stock. A 200 PE would give me a nice profit.
INTERVIEW-Intel sees Europe electronic trade boom
HANOVER, Germany, March 20 (Reuters) - Intel Corp
said on Friday Europe was about to see a boom in computer sales
and electronic commerce led by small businesses.
The company expected western Europe's total online sales to
near $4 billion this year, and then shoot up to $11.7 billion in
consumer sales and $18.4 billion in business-to-business sales,
Intel Europe chief Rob Eckelmann said at the CeBIT trade fair.
Driving this rise would be a rush to the Internet by small
businesses, which make up 56 percent of western Europe's
economy, Eckelmann told Reuters in an interview.
"A year ago we were describing a technology deficit. Europe
was well behind North America," he said. "That is rapidly
changing, the gap is closing."
He cited a survey that found 18 percent of all European
companies were trying to sell products over the Internet last
year, but that 39 percent planned to get into cyberspace by the
end of 1998.
"There is a lot of room here and we are seeing the beginning
of the ramp," he said.
As examples, Eckelmann pointed to Schuhhaus Eduard Meier, a
German shoe retailer that has been in business since 1596, which
now lets customers view and order shoes over the Internet.
Eduard Meier said that 300 people visited its Web site on
Thursday and that half of them later came into its stores.
In Paris, NetBusiness sells PCs online. Founded nine months
ago with three employees, it saw sales of one million francs in
the last quarter of 1997.
On Thursday at CeBIT, Compaq Computer Corp launched a
worldwide strategy to target small and medium-sized businesses,
saying this segment of the PC market was growing 18 percent
annually and would represent more than half of the total PC
market by 2000. |
