From:
http://www.forrester.com/ER/Press/Release/0,1769,270,FF.html
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Mariko Zapf
Public Relations Specialist
Forrester Research, Inc.
+1 617/613-6025
Forrester Research Predicts The Imminent Demise Of Most Dot Com
Retailers
Cambridge, Mass., April 11, 2000 . . . The combination of weak
financials, increasing competitive pressures, and investor flight
will drive most of today's Dot Com retailers out of business by
2001. According to a new Report from Forrester Research, Inc.
(Nasdaq: FORR), to survive in the online retail battleground,
firms will need to redirect extravagant branding investments into
three categories of hard assets, defined by scale, service, and
speed.
"It's time to face facts: Online retail's honeymoon is over,"
said Joe Sawyer, senior analyst at Forrester. "The difficulties
that firms like CDnow and Peapod now face will only become more
widespread. Financial turbulence and new competition will dry up
venture funding and accelerate the Dot Com shakeout as the year
progresses."
Forrester believes that consolidation will occur in three waves.
First, firms selling commodity products that have been successful
since the Net's early days -- such as books, software, and
flowers -- will consolidate by the fall of 2000 amid slowing
annual growth rates. Second, the plethora of merchants selling
undifferentiated products at razor-thin margins -- including pet
supplies, toys, and consumer electronics -- will collapse before
marketing expenditures ramp up for the next holiday season.
Finally, online merchants selling heavily branded, high-style
products like apparel and furniture will remain stable until
2002.
To survive consolidation, online retailers must anchor themselves
by building sustainable assets that will attain scale, service,
and speed. Leaders will need to focus on hard assets that support
high sales volumes and lower costs per transaction: a large,
loyal customer base; in-house fulfillment capabilities; and a
rock-solid internal organization. Online retailers must strike
back at brand confusion and product duplication by distinguishing
themselves through customer service. Presence across multiple
channels and platforms, exclusive manufacturer deals to carry
specific products, and a range of delivery options will help to
build lifetime relationships. Speed will keep retailers ahead of
rivals, but it will also require a flexible business foundation.
Retailers should adopt technologies and strategies that adjust to
unforeseen competitive forays and customer demands.
Several leaders will prevail following the wave of retail
consolidation. Brick-and-mortar retailers will regain their
footing, leveraging assets like customer history, product
selection, fulfillment, and strong manufacturer relationships.
Catalog hybrids will also survive, given their large customer
base, proprietary product lines, and solid fulfillment.
"Among all the online-retail pioneers, only Amazon can claim a
balanced set of assets that guarantees its leadership," added
Sawyer. "Pure plays with few hard assets beyond solid,
full-function sites will fall by the wayside, unable to keep up
with their multichannel peers."
For the Report "The Demise Of Dot Com Retailers," Forrester
surveyed 50 leading retailers representing a mix of product
categories and backgrounds. Eight-six percent of respondents
identified growth as their No. 1 strategic priority in 2000,
followed by improved site design, increased brand recognition,
and raised customer satisfaction.
Forrester Research is the leading independent Internet research
firm, analyzing technology change and its impact on business,
consumers, and society. Forrester's "Whole View" of the Internet
economy enables clients to weave together Internet commerce
initiatives with eBusiness technology to satisfy customers'
changing needs. Clients receive continuous research and analysis
through Forrester's unique eResearch� Reports, an array of
advisory services, bit products, and topical events. Established
in 1983, Forrester is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass.
Forrester's European Research Center is located in Amsterdam,
Netherlands, and its UK Research Centre is located in London.
Additional information about Forrester Research can be found at
www.forrester.com.
Copyright � 2000 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
######################
Study: Many e-retailers may soon go bust
5.24 p.m. ET (2135 GMT) April 12, 2000
By Rachel Beck, Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) � Most retailers that operate entirely on the
Internet will be out of business by next year, a respected
consulting firm is warning.
In a report critical of the battered online shopping industry,
Forrester Research Inc. said intense competition and the
continuing selloff of dot-com stocks will result in a rapid rise
in buyouts and bankruptcies of online retailers in the coming
months.
Lawyers and consultants are already being swamped with calls for
help from online companies in distress.
"There are just too many companies out there that don't have what
it takes to last, and they won't last,'' said Seema Williams, an
analyst at Forrester, based in Cambridge, Mass.
When Internet shopping first began gaining momentum a few years
ago, many believed cyberspace would be big enough for anyone,
from giants like Wal-Mart to the entrepreneur selling jelly out
of his kitchen.
But while the online world remains vast in size, the marketplace
has become crowded with sites selling similar products and
content.
It is quickly becoming clear that the largest and best-known
sites are gobbling up customers and sales, and the smaller
players have little chance to get noticed. Traditional chains,
such as Wal-Mart and Sears, are increasing the pressure by
stepping up their presense with recognizable brands online.
"There are 30,000 e-tailers out there, and probably 25,000 will
have to go away,'' said Mark Doll, a consultant for startup
companies at Ernst & Young. "But that will end up helping the
biggest and best players who can ride the tide and then will fare
better because they'll have less competition in their markets.''
The shakeout among the online retailers is just beginning and
could become a bloodbath over the next year.
In its report released late Tuesday and based on surveys of 50
leading online retailers, Forrester said most companies won't be
able to cope in the coming months as competition intensifies and
money evaporates just as merchants need to ramp up marketing for
the Christmas season.
Investors have tightened their purse strings, the flood of money
from venture capitalists and initial public offerings of stock
has dried up, and prices for dot-com stocks have been sinking.
"They don't have the funds available to them 12 to 18 months ago,
and now they are trying to decide what to do to stay alive,''
said Ming Tsai, senior vice president at Mainspring Inc., an
Internet consulting firm in Cambridge.
"Some will be forced to go out of business completely. Others
will merge or be bought up by someone who sees something
worthwhile in their assets like the technology that runs its
site.''
Already, some cybershops have bottomed out. A few merchants,
including cooking site Cook Express, filed for bankruptcy, and
dozens of others, such as CDNow and Peapod, are quickly running
out of money. Cybershop and Beyond.com got out of retailing
entirely and now cater to businesses.
Gloss.com has been fighting for attention in the crowded online
beauty space. On Wednesday, it was bought by Estee Lauder Cos. as
part of the cosmetics giant's efforts to step up its online
presence.
The law firm of Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps said it gets 10
to 15 calls a week, up from one or two just three months ago,
from troubled Web retailers as well as vendors, venture capital
firms and lenders who want to be represented if these businesses
crumble.
Keen Consultants, which helps companies restructure and sell
assets, recently helped with the sale of Beautyscene.com to an
undisclosed buyer, and is now getting calls from other ailing
cybershops.
Forrester may benefit, too. It helped many cybershops plan their
online businesses. Now they need help with repairs.
On the Net:
http://www.forrester.com/ER/Press/Release/0,1769,270,FF.html
###
P.S. If you are interested in a FREE high-speed DSL internet
service provider, and/or a FREE $200 DSL modem, then register AND
DOWNLOAD THE SOFTWARE (i.e., registration alone WON'T GET IT
DONE) at:
http://i.winfire.com/s/isapiEng.dll/wf.exe?cmd=rl&508,120031685&wf.exe
OH, and you've only got till the 30th of this month to get it
done.
=================================================================
Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
*Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day.
=================================================================
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid
matters
and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
<A HREF="http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
