e-Shock 2000

Frontmatter

Introduction

Abstract

There’s a new milestone being reached in business and commerce. The beginning of the twenty-first century is going to see a radical transformation in the retailing of goods and services. There’s a revolution taking shape in how people shop. In just a few years it’s going to reach a significant point in its evolution. Happening with remarkable speed, it’s forecast to reach critical mass and start having a serious impact by around 2005. It’s the advent of mass electronic shopping.

Michael de Kare-Silver

1. Overview: The Key Conclusions

Abstract

It’s all happening very quickly. In just five years since it went commercial the Internet is proving to be one of the biggest phenomena business has seen. Bursting onto the scene in 1994 it has caused a major rethink on how to sell products and services to consumers. Many companies are rushing to explore this new opportunity. What potential does it hold, will it impact and if so, when?

Michael de Kare-Silver

2. Definitions and Consumer Trends

Abstract

Some brief definitions and explanations are required before moving into the detail of what retailers and manufacturers are doing about the electronic revolution and how they can best respond.

Michael de Kare-Silver

3. Learning from the Pioneers in Electronic Selling

Abstract

The retail shopping scene is already changing. At the leading edge it’s moving from casual flirtation with electronic shopping to much more serious investigation. It’s developing in profile from a pet project for the marketing department to an opportunity that the whole organisation (especially in the areas of marketing, logistics and systems) will need to come to terms with and integrate into future plans.

Michael de Kare-Silver

4. Future Growth of Electronic Shopping: Look Out for 2005!

Abstract

There’s so much activity and investment going on, but when will it reach critical mass, when will it truly begin to shape mass consumer shopping habits? All the evidence is pointing to around the middle of the next decade, to c.200S. By that stage it looks as though there will be sufficient infrastructure and technology in place, experimentation and improvement will have reached a point of maturity – though still far from complete – and consumer purchasing will start proving notably easier, more enjoyable and more rewarding.

Michael de Kare-Silver

5. The ES Test: How to Tell How Much Your Business is Going to be Affected

Abstract

Which products and services are going to be most affected by the trends and developments in electronic shopping (‘ES’)? Are there some which are so obviously susceptible that they can be readily sold on-line without any noticeable loss of value-added? Can those be easily identified? In contrast are there other products whose characteristics demand such a personal involvement and physical interaction that electronic selling is never likely to make much impact, except among a dedicated few?

Michael de Kare-Silver

6. How Can Retailers Respond?

Abstract

The ES test will demonstrate the potential for a product or service to be sold on-line. It will help identify likely levels of demand and market size. It can be repeated regularly to watch for trends and other changes in people’s readiness to buy electronically. It establishes a framework for determining right now whether and how best to respond.

Michael de Kare-Silver

7. Ten Strategic Options for Retailers

Abstract

If the ES Test shows that a retailer’s products or services have some potential to be purchased electronically then how can that retailer respond, what options are there?

Michael de Kare-Silver

8. The Store of the Future

Abstract

What will the store of the future actually look like? Before illustrating the ‘Best of both’ option referred to in Chapter 7, we should briefly examine some of the new retail technologies that are being developed and which enable the future store to take shape.

Michael de Kare-Silver

9. Rapidly Improving Technology Meets Growing Consumer Demand

Abstract

If retailers don’t take the initiative, then consumers will. The 1990s has seen the rise of the ‘prosumer’ – the more experienced and self-reliant consumer who is self-confident and assertive about what they need, is demanding in terms of service and information and is prepared to proactively search out for value and for suppliers who will deliver the services that are required.

Michael de Kare-Silver

10. The World is Changing: Assets to Knowledge

Abstract

The advent of electronic commerce is heralding a new world order for business. The traditional rules of competition that generations have become familiar with are having less and less relevance. A tide of technological, regulatory, geographic and political change has come about since the early 1990s. Scale can no longer be relied on to provide competitive advantage, many products and services are seen as commodities, new competitors are emerging from surprising places and with dedicated efforts are quickly winning market share, formal borders and barriers are being swept aside, customers have gone truly global in their aspirations, technology now makes possible what once was only dreams and there’s a virtual environment fast becoming reality.

Michael de Kare-Silver

11. Structural Difficulties with the Internet will be Overcome

Abstract

On the demand side, significant numbers of consumers are ready and waiting. On the supply side, technology and communication links are rapidly improving. All that is now required is a satisfactory infrastructure that can reassure consumers that their privacy will still be protected, their payment methods secure, that shopping in cyberspace will be as safe as anywhere else. This necessary reassurance is the final piece in the jigsaw. It will be the coming together and maturing of all the three elements – demand, supply and enabling infrastructure – that will trigger the surges of growth that are predicted for electronic shopping. The fusion of consumer interest plus accessible technology is perhaps the most critical. But underpinning that ‘marriage’ there needs to be a transaction infrastructure that is secure (Figure 11.1).

Michael de Kare-Silver

12. How Can Manufacturers Respond?

Abstract

In previous chapters we considered the retailer’s dilemmas in facing up to the electronic shopping challenge. Now we turn the spotlight on manufacturers and suppliers. What will be the impact on their established ways of doing business, what are the threats and risks, is there an upside and what strategic options do they have moving forward?

Michael de Kare-Silver

13. Manufacturers’ Ten Strategic Options

Abstract

As manufacturers reflect on the new electronic shopping challenges, must they inevitably transition their business to embrace it? Can they sensibly resist it, eschew building up their own direct operation and stick with their existing distribution arrangements? Is there a half-way house that keeps a foot in both camps and gives the flexibility to move one way or the other as the market develops? What are the basic strategies that a manufacturer can choose, what are the options?

Michael de Kare-Silver

14. The New Marketing Imperatives: Marketing in the Electronic Age

Abstract

At least half of multinational companies surveyed are ‘missing the link’: they’re not marketing effectively on the Internet. According to a 1998 study in The Economist, many web sites are sorely lacking when it comes to communicating with their audiences. Companies may be on-line but web sites are often difficult to find and difficult to use, information is often patchy or incomplete (only 37% of the companies in the survey gave any details of where their products could be obtained), sales efforts can be half-hearted (e.g. J.e. Penney's handbag department for some time featured precisely one item, the Argos gift service sold only barometers) and on-line support and services can be surprisingly limited (only 21 % offered any interactive service or further communication beyond the initial information dump).

Michael de Kare-Silver

15. Setting the Strategy and Mobilising the Organisation

Abstract

78% of senior executives in a recent study felt that electronic commerce would significantly change their organisations over the next ten years. They anticipated there would need to be radically different structures and to be effective they would have to develop new competences and skills and manage an inevitable cultural upheaval. Similar findings came through in a detailed study by The Economist involving more than 400 business leaders across 34 countries. Two out of three interviewed said that their organisation in 2010 would be very different from today and that there would need to be a keen emphasis on flexibility and faster response. Forrester Research, who have been closely monitoring the progress of electronic commerce, believe the new strategies required will cause ‘massive disruption and will challenge many corporations’ basic operating model’.

Michael de Kare-Silver

16. The Next Wave in Electronic Shopping

Abstract

In recent times e-commerce has centered around the Internet and the PC. But are we about to see a new era in e-comm development? Is there going to be a new wave of technology and communication that will take us even further into an electronic world?

Michael de Kare-Silver

Backmatter