Barry Knowles sent in this piece on eCommerce, and some of the information we thought would be useful to you. I do not believe that Barry actually read the requirements for submitting news to DT&G through the news-editor address, because the letter read more like spam than anything else. He was endorsing a new commerce site online which is coming in September, however do to our 'no-spam' policy we could not publish the pitch portions of the letter. We hereby bring you the edited version with some rather interesting data. Take it for what it's worth. Barry offers his email address for those of you who wish to persue the subject further. eCommerce Barry Knowles I AM SURE YOU ARE ALREADY AWARE of the e-commerce explosion happening on the Internet, but are you in a position to profit from it? Have you ever wanted to start a Web-based business? . . . As a broker/agent for a new e-commerce web site I'm looking for people that truly desire to own their own internet business. . . . But, you say you don't know how to get started or just don't have the capital it takes to launch a business on the Web. I know what you mean. I have a small Web-based business but it isn't an Amazon.com -- far from it. I've been looking for something for quite some time that has viral economics - a money making virus that will spread literally around the world instantly. FACTS: It took radio 34 years to have 50 million listeners It took TV 13 years to have 50 million viewers It took the Internet only 4 years to have 50 million users! 3 years ago only 4% of Americans used the Internet every day -- today the figure is 35% (Fortune Magazine Dec. 7, 1998) 200 million people use the internet todayS500 million will use it in less than 3 years. E-commerce is currently a $35 billion industry -- it is now being projected by leading economists to be as high as 1.3 trillion by 2002 & $3 trillion by 2005. Online shopping is up 330% this year (USA Today) Online shopping will overtake catalog shopping within the coming year (US News & World Report Dec. 7, 1998) Apparel sales will be the fastest growing product category online. (Internet Business Dec. 1998) Stock growth from first day of trading for AOL 9040%, CMG Info Svcs 2880%, Yahoo=865%, Amazon.com=676% Excite=216% MAKING MONEY ON THE INTERNET 1) UBIQUITY: Webster's defines it as "a presence in many places at the same time." Probably the best example of ubiquity in brick and mortar terms is McDonalds. When Ray Kroc died there was a McDonalds going up somewhere in the world every 17 hours. McDonalds may not have the best hamburgers available but they are the most convenient. 2) COMMUNITY: Business 2.0 (December, 1998 issue) says, "...once you've created a network of interdependent players, each of whom benefit every time another player is added to the network, you've created a VALUE ENGINE." In January they said, "the larger and more vibrant the network, the greater the value." 3) STICKINESS: This means customer retention. So many companies get a one-time sale with no customer loyalty. 4) PERSONAL TOUCH: A periodical called the Industry Standard (12/14/98) said, "The Web does a lot of things remarkably well. But personalization is not one of them... just 13% of the Web sites offer some form of personalization." That means that 87% of them are missing the boat. 5) TOTAL SOLUTIONS: It takes 3 entities to come together to offer total solutions: a) Value Engine: A community offering loyal personal shopping habits. b) Participating Partners: Strong, credible, name brand recognizable companies. c) Infrastructure: This is the key to rapid internet growth. It's a proven fact that businesses can grow incredibly on the internet, keeping up with growth has been a stumbling block to some companies. You all know that unsupported growth can kill a company as quickly as no growth can. Please feel free to discuss this further. Barry Knowles Pcphd@isaac.net 910-793-0188