Demand for e-services rising to $65B by 2003.(Statistical Data Included)
Author/s: Powell Slaughter
Issue: Feb, 2000
The explosive growth of the Internet might make e-commerce the retailing buzzword of the year, but behind the headlines lies another burgeoning industry called "e-services."
Look at all the things companies must do to run their business, add the strategic, technical and design aspects of building and maintaining a commerce-capable Web site, and you have e-services in a nutshell.
Such services could account for almost $65 billion by 2003 in the United States alone, according to Forrester Research, a research firm specializing in the analysis of technology changes and their effect on business and consumers. That's almost six times Forrester's estimate of $10.6 billion for the U.S. e-services market today.
Communication with vendors, marketing and delivery of product, and attractive merchandising are as important to Internet retailers as they are to regular storefronts -- perhaps even more so. After all, Internet shopping is unfamiliar ground for many consumers, and if they encounter late delivery, poor customer service, sloppy Web sites or slow decisions about credit approval, they may decide that electronic retailing isn't worth their dollars.
E-services -- imaging software, delivery fulfillment, online credit approval and other programs to facilitate e-commerce -- create and support the infrastructure that makes selling on the Internet possible.
Uncharted territory
Many retailers in the home furnishings sector regard the Internet the way Thomas Jefferson must have viewed the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 - a vast, unexplored territory with unknown, yet undoubtedly, vast potential.
Those seeking outside help to establish Internet sales will find a mixture of familiar companies that have adopted their product for use on the Web and newcomers offering specialized Internet services at ground zero.
How the e-services bu...