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To: Boplicity who wrote (10478)	2/20/2001 11:45:12 AM
From: MulhollandDrive	Respond to of 13572

>>Take for Bluelight example very thin feel to it. One of worries has been complacency moving into the system from the brick company not being pressured by the move to click slowing or disappearing altogether. << Hi Greg, I haven't checked out Bluelight, but I don't think it's necessarily a good example as a model for brick & click convergence. Or the Walmarts or the Home Depots. These are companies that are almost ubiquitous as to their presence in the major population centers and so the need for a good online experience will not necessarily impact their bottom line. Everything in business comes down to a cost/benefit analysis and for now the online shopping experience may still remain an "afterthought", a "value-added" convenience that does not necessarily generate positive cash flow in and of itself. But I don't think you can conclude that the brick and mortars will abandon the online experience altogether. In fact I believe quite the opposite. The leaders will augment their market presence online, and I think the competitors ignore it or abandon it at their peril. <edit> I just saw Jorj's post and I think he's on target.

To: Boplicity who wrote (10478)	2/21/2001 5:15:35 AM
From: Bill Ulrich	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13572

Greg, re: B2C — Adding to Jorj's and bp's excellent comments, I would say further that the larger segment of enterprises have had enormous hurdles in developing B2C strategies to make a harmonious trilogy with their channel partners and their end-markets. The vast majority of enterprises are not "Amazons" that rely simply on infrastructure and delivery. Indeed, the majority are more like Levi Strauss, who have those issues and many more—retention of branding strength and channel partner relationships being a few examples. In a merchandiser's online catalog, one may often see disparate Levi items lumped in with various articles from other competitors, thus diluting brand strength. Yet, as Levi's unfortunately experienced, direct web sales can erode established partner relationships. These hurdles and others (loyalty, personalization, consultative-selling, channel partner microsites) are now being ironed out, via server-side software which can effectively preserve brand strength, and enterprise communication with its end-market, whilst driving customers directly to an enterprise's channel partners. I believe you'll soon see a B2C resurgence once more of these systems are put in place. Public companies which offer these solutions include Blue Martini (BLUE) and Broadvision (BVSN). Privately-held ones include The SoftAd Group (disclosure: my current gig) -MrB e n t e r p r i s e • c h a n n e l • m a r k e t