Business to Consumer E-Commerce: What is(n ) the Problem?
No doubt you’ve been following the downturn of dot-coms. Many start-ups are at the finish line. Fear, uncertainty, and doubt are replacing optimism. Multiple perspectives abound: Web sites aren’t usable, customer service is appalling, marketing dollars are being misspent, warehousing and fulfillment require a major shift… Jay Mellman, the vice president of marketing for iVendor, puts it this way: “You could build the Taj Mahal, but if you build it in the middle of the desert without any roads, what good is it?” Despite apparent dire straits, consumer online buying marches on. What do viable B2C e-commerce sites need to do? A resounding answer from e-commerce solutions and services providers like iVendor, Vitessa, and CrossCommerce is: (1) Unless you’re Amazon, ditch the notion of affiliate marketing; and (2) Unless you’re Amazon, it’s just not realistic to develop customized e-commerce solutions. That leaves two options: outsource, or get the right packaged technology. The outsourcin
