.com makes no difference.... (The Future of the .com Industry)

Member Name: gissing

Product:	The Future of the .com Industry
Date:	15/11/00 (28 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: well known companies learn from startup mistakes

Disadvantages: old rules, new companies...

The internet is completely and utterly ubiquitous. You cannot escape from that in any way, shape or form. Even "lesser" technology such as SMS and WAP have permeated into society at all levels. Hell, even old people have mobile phones. But this is about .com business, so why am I banging on about SMS and suchlike you all ask. Well, frankly I'm tired of the hype. Not in that I dont want to hear about .com this and .com that. I just think that such businesses are now no different to any other. It's no longer a new thing anymore so why all the fuss? I suppose much of it is down to the fact that the common man, and the media that represents this demographic are usually about 4 years out of touch. Any self respecting business ought to be on the net now, its foolish not to be. Whereas in the old days of the .com company, VC (Venture Capitalists) handouts were huge and advertising spends bigger, nowadays a grim reality has set it with most of the startups. The poorly managed, badly staffed ones have fallen by the wayside through mis management, a bit too much chest-puffing and new-media rhetoric. Just like any other business really, when you think about it. No matter if the company sells pegs from a small shop in Huddersfield, or its a .com startup in Soho - same rules apply.

I believe this so called new economy really has to conform to the old rules.. And the sooner they do, the better off the companies will be. This boom to bust scenario will be a thing of the past. Certainly, when the VC capital dries up the companies wont even get off the ground without a proper business plan, unique idea and a target demographic more specific than "young people".

The number of .com's thinking of an IPO (Initial Purchase Offering) are dropping, and thats through shear fear of the .com bubble bursting on them at the wrong moment. But, I suggest the bubble has already deflated.

Bricks and mortar companies are going to be the big
beneficiaries – they’ve watched the situations carefully, seen the mistakes, and are rolling out their web strategies in a much more civilised and controlled manner. Take GAP for example, offering unique maternity wear exclusively on the web. They don’t have the room to tell this stuff in store, but by cleverly creating a scarcity and knowing that customers trust the GAP brand name, they’ll turn a profit from very little effort. Compare this with boo.com, the ultimate style over content company. Who really understood what was going on with boo? Silly adverts, silly website. Marketing fluff does not a company make.

So, where next? The future is probably wireless, and location based. Grab your mobile phone, hit the WAP menu option, and you can instantly see which shops, based on your physical location at that moment, want to sell you extra cheap clothes, last minute cinema tickets or simply show you where their nearest outlet is.

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