General Internet
Publications

E-Commerce

New Technology Trends Affecting Business

Exercise:
Effective Web Sites

----General Internet Publications

E-Commerce

The Internet—A Growing Retail Channel and Retailing Trends (several applicable articles). Look over our selection of Internet retailing articles under the "Retailing" marketing topic.

ON Magazine by American Express. This brief introduction to e-commerce answers these questions:

• Will my product or service work online?
• What role will my site play in my overall sales strategy?
• What features and information should I include on my site?
• What is the best venue for my product?
• How will I collect money from my Web sales?

A Guide to What Does and Doesn't Sell Online by Timothy Hanrahan, wsj.com, December 7, 1998. To determine what retail approaches will succeed on the Web, the author profiles several businesses, including Reel.com (has rented and sold videos), Peapod.com (an online grocer), Cybermeals (restaurant delivery), Egghead (computer hardware and software) and several Microsoft sites (HomeAdvisor, CarPoint and Expedia).

Marketing on the Internet—Providing Consumer Satisfaction by Craig A. Hollingshead and Joseph Abramson. A perspective on marketing products on the Web, organized according to the 4 Ps: product, price, promotion and place. The article also summarizes the key reasons why customers would shop on the Internet, such as lower prices, and possible detriments, such as "the inability to examine or sample the product."

Digital Delivery of Goods and Services from the Emerging Digital Economy Report. Very comprehensive review of the issues, trends and scope of marketing intangibles on the Web. Four major product categories are covered: content (TV, magazines, newspapers, etc.), travel (with an emphasis on booking airline tickets), retail banking (paying bills online, transferring funds, etc.) and Insurance (corporate and policy information, etc.). The article concludes with some forecasts for the future.

Retail of Tangible Goods from the Emerging Digital Economy Report. Many topics and issues are covered, including reasons why consumers shop on the Web, how retailers are attracting customers, brief profiles of several online retailers, how virtual stores compare to their "bricks and mortar" counterparts and some forecasts about the future of Web retailers selling tangible goods.

Lemonade Stands on Electric Avenue by David Leonhardt, BusinessWeek, July 26, 1999. Learn about the growth of small retailers on the Web, including the stories of several online startups. One forecast in the article anticipates 400,000 online retailers by 2003. This story also covers the reasons why so many businesses are starting online and the challenges they face in achieving success.

Leading the PC Pack by Scott Thurm, wsj.com, December 7, 1998. A detailed analysis of why Dell has been so successful in e-commerce. Among the reasons cited: well-developed "private areas" for business customers, constantly monitoring its Web site to learn how customers prefer to shop and responding quickly to customer suggestions and complaints.

New Technology Trends Affecting Business

Checkout tech by Margaret Mannix, U.S. News. Businesses are finding new ways to make purchases and other transactions easier for their customers, including digitizing and storing credit card signatures for better fraud protection, portable credit card machines that can be brought to your restaurant table and ATMs that can cash checks.

25 Cool Things You Wish You Had And Will by Clint Willis, Forbes. In-depth descriptions of 25 applications of embedded chips, such as "all-knowing appliances," "Powerful Personal Digital Assistants," "Wearable Computers" and "Personal Shopper-on-a-Card."

Dawn of the Hydrogen Age by Jacques Leslie, Wired. The application of hydrogen fuel cells has the potential to transform the way energy is provided, especially in vehicles. Over the next 50-100 years, this technology may shift energy consumption from fossil fuels and transform the energy industry.

Free Flight by Jacques Leslie, Wired. Many tasks now handled by air traffic controllers and pilots may be automated in the future using "satellite-based navigational equipment that identifies their positions with a precision far outstripping radar's.