Internet - Fight for Survival of E-Commerce :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

The Fight for Survival of E-Commerce      Ã‚   Abstract:   How can e-businesses be successful in the new millennia?   This paper looks at both the industry-wide and individual company trends that are developing, from what it takes to remain competitive, to public assurance in security.    It hasn't been an easy year for e-commerce.   With so many e-businesses failing, and just as many emerging, the key to survival has been the attraction and retention of customers.   Different companies need different approaches, however, with one being the use of online coupons.   At the same time, the industry is getting a better image as security is addressed - more specifically, the confidence of buying online with credit cards.      Creating and retaining a customer base on the Internet is not an easy task.   Different companies need to have different approaches, depending on what their product is, and who their competitors are.   To analyze these companies, we split them into type types - the niche competitor and the direct competitor.    The niche competitor is exactly what its name implies.   These are the companies with a specific niche - their customer base comes from the fact that they offer a one-of-a-kind service.   An example of this is the online auction site Ebay.   Ebay provides a service that when first introduced, was non-existent on the Internet.   Today, there is no other online auction site that even begins to rival Ebay in either its number of users and/or hits per day.   Boasting over 10 million registered users as of December of 1999, Ebay had over 3 million items listed for sale in an excess of 3,000 categories that very same month [3]. PC Data Online, a service that rates websites by the amount of traffic received, placed Ebay 8th in their monthly Top 100.   No other auction-oriented site appeared on the list [6].   For a niche competitor to be successful against similar niche competitors, however, it must offer both a good product and good advertisement.   Ebay succeeded by satura ting the market with advertisements early and quickly, and by providing an easy to use and attractive interface.   Ebay's early competitors did not do so well - while Ebay advertised on television, most did not, and most auction sites simply did not look as good as Ebay's.   Even today, Yahoo! Auctions pales in comparison to Ebay, aesthetically.   Indeed, Ebay is both a well-tuned site and household name and thus has been able to fend off and retain customers from would-be competitors such as Yahoo! Auctions, and AuctioNet.