Here's some interesting reading to pass the time away. It's old news, but still interesting.
E-commerce Is Hottest Thing At Net
Show
Jon Swartz, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, March 12, 1998
If the rows upon rows of booths at the Spring
Internet World show here are any indication, then
the Internet community is sold on e-commerce --
or at least, on hawking tools for e-commerce.
Most of the 600 booths at the fifth annual
conference were offering software and services to
sell products over the Internet, and e-commerce
was all the buzz of the keynote speech and
sessions. Some 50,000 people are expected to
attend the weeklong conference.
''Internet commerce is the dominant theme. That's
where the action is,'' said analyst Vernon Keenan
of Zona Research Inc. in Redwood City.
Consumers attending the show agree. ''I've bought
a lot of things online
--flowers, software, clothes, my electronic
toothbrush,'' said Christa Federico of Novato. ''It's
fast and convenient, and it lets me comparison
shop.''
Online transactions have also enabled high-tech
heavyweights with multiple product lines to
streamline operations. ''It has galvanized our
business,'' said Bill Murphy, Hewlett-Packard
director of Internet marketing.
At the show, companies such as Sprint and
Encanto Networks unveiled software that lets small
businesses and consumers set up their own retail
Web sites.
Encanto's e.go commerce product, which costs
$1,295, helps companies build an electronic
storefront that can accept orders and process
payments.
Many merchants are trying to duplicate the success
of Dell Computer, the Round Rock, Texas,
computer maker that sells more than $1 billion a
year in products online to companies and
consumers.
The rush to cash in on e-commerce has resembled
a stampede among both start-ups and billion-dollar
companies.
While virtual retailers such as Amazon.com,
Travelocity and CDnow are offering books, airline
tickets and music CDs, others -- like Bay Area
companies Commerce One, Intershop
Communications, CyberSource and VeriFone
--are moving into cyberspace such traditional
business operations as distribution, customer
service and transactions.
''As PC prices drop and more are sold, a lot of
people are calling in for service and support and
can't get through,'' said Jimmy Treybig, chairman of
Smart Technologies Inc., an Austin, Texas, maker
of e-commerce software. ''PC makers need an
online operation that let people bypass customer
support and do their own searches for information
on prices, products, upgrades and troubleshooting.
The Internet is that vehicle.''
And then there are heavyweights IBM, Microsoft,
Cisco Systems and Apple Computer: All of them
are selling increasingly more products over the
Internet.
The payoff is potentially staggering. Analysts
predict e-commerce sales will mushroom into a
$80 billion to $255 billion business by the year
2000. A forthcoming White House study forecasts
a $300 billion market by 2002.
Although the figures vary dramatically, they share
the same conclusion: The Internet is dramatically
changing the way Americans shop and merchants
sell goods and services.
An increasing number of time-constrained
Americans are smitten with the idea of having a
24-hour shopping service with easy access, wide
selection and prompt delivery.
As electronic commerce grows in popularity,
retailers are shifting to online operations and
streamlining storefront divisions.
In January, software retailer Egghead shut down its
80 stores nationwide, laid off 800 employees and
renamed itself Egghead.com in a bid to capitalize
on the breakneck growth of Internet commerce.
Retail heavyweights Barnes & Noble, the Gap and
1-800-FLOWERS have all gone online while
maintaining physical stores.
Nonetheless, there is skepticism that e- commerce
-- like the Internet industry -- may be over-hyped.
''The current guesstimates of e-commerce are akin
to trying to estimate the GDP of a state based on
the number of trucks passing by on a highway,''
said analyst Chris Stevens of the Aberdeen Group
in Boston. ''It is absurd.''
Meanwhile, some consumers are reluctant to
purchase products over the Net. ''When I buy
something, I want to pick it up and test it,'' said
Tracy Condon of Santa Monica. ''I don't feel
comfortable about buying pottery and glass over
the Internet.''
More than 20 percent of 1,000 Internet users
polled by World Research Inc. said they don't shop
online out of fear that virtual pirates will steal
credit-card information and other sensitive personal
information.
''You are more likely to get robbed on the street
than to have credit-card numbers stolen by fake
Internet merchants,'' said Stephan Schambach,
president and CEO of InterShop in San Francisco.
''It is simply not that easy to obtain a license to sell
products online. The process takes up to six
months, and you have to fill out a lot of forms.''
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c1998 San Francisco Chronicle Page E1
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