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Technology Stocks : DELL: Facts, Stats, News and Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mick Mørmøny who wrote (205)	11/14/1998 11:19:00 PM
From: Mick Mørmøny	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 335

Eckert Still in Awe Scott Eckert, director of Dell Computer Corp.'s online business, still seems in awe of the popularity of online purchasing. "My wife even purchased our dog online," he says. Quickly he points out that if she had been able to pick the parents and get a custom-made dog, it would have followed the Dell Direct model. But Eckert says he can't understand why the media pays so much attention to the fact that Dell sells $6 million of computer hardware and software on its Web site every day. Perhaps now that Dell has declared its earnings for the third quarter, Eckert will grow to love the new number--$10 million a day. Dell's third-quarter profits marched up 55 percent to $384 million--beating analysts' expectations by a penny. Trying to point out that there is room for growth, Eckert says that only 20 percent of the company's revenue is Internet based. While you may imagine a guy helping run a $10 million a day business to be a fanatic, hell-on-wheels kind of executive, Eckert does not fit the stereotype. And though he speaks about Dell's business plan for the Internet with enthusiam, he seldom slips from his calm, shy disposition. "There's really more opportunity ahead of us than there is behind us," Eckert says. Specifically, he refers to the large commercial business segment of the PC market, where Dell is on its way to catching up to market heavies IBM and Compaq. Eckert says Dell's growth comes from three main areas: market consolidation, international sales and new product categories like servers and workstations. But Dell also has put efforts into extending its direct business model by providing corporate customers with a customized Web site, called a Premier Page. Dell currently provides 8,500 Premier Pages, and by the end of the year 2000, it expects to be conducting 50 percent of its business online. The Premier Page is Dell's corporate customer's home page away from home. Once the page is set up, the corporate customers have access to purchasing computer equipment, some 50,000 pages of tech support data, their account information and, most importantly, their Dell account executive's e-mail address, phone, fax and pager numbers. "This is a people business," Eckert says. "In a business where the products are becoming more standardized, the only differentiation points left are your business model and your relationship with customers." As Dell incorporates the Internet as a part of its direct relationship with customers, it has found ways to become more in tune to its customers' needs. The company, for instance, tracks what products customers are reading about on the Net, even if they don't buy them. "What we can learn from the Internet that we didn't know before is what people are almost buying. By studying this we'll be able to improve our pricing," Eckert says. While the Internet continues its rampant growth, how will Dell remain successful if other avenues to using the Net challenge the popularity of the PC? Though he doesn't see corporate demand dropping off, Eckert says that if they need to, Dell's direct business model will allow the company to sell other devices. But with $10 million a day in sales and $4.8 billion in quarterly revenues, it's safe to say they don't need to do that yet. Upside Today November 13, 1998 By Phil Harvey