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Three white papers
are currently available:
Retailers'
panic made gloomy holiday season self-fulfilling
Having heard the dire predictions about
year-end retail sales, I went to SouthPark mall expecting
to find it a veritable ghost town, haunted by dwindling
consumer confidence and a stagnant economy. Instead,
I found not empty stores, but something far more troubling
-- empty hands. While consumers were still out in force,
they were doing little of what matters most in retail
-- buying. And, on further inspection, I concluded that
as much as retailers would like to blame their troubles
on the recession, the real problem is not the economy,
but how stores have reacted to the economy . . . complete
article available at The
Charlotte Business Journal (January 25, 2002)
Group
Buying & the Internet
Introduction
The recent proliferation
of group-buying websites is a new phenomenon in the e-world,
raising a key question: Do these sites have the potential
to become powerhouse sites that change the face of retail
as we know it? The answer, gleaned from the teachings of
social psychology and anthropology, is yes, if executed
correctly . . . click here for more
The
e-Nightmare Before Christmas
This past holiday season was anticipated
as the first major test of online shopping, an opportunity
to evaluate the appeal of this new purchasing method, the
demands of shoppers, and the ability of web-oriented companies
to meet those demands. With the booming economy and the
number of Internet users skyrocketing, this season provided
the best opportunity to date for retailers offering online
shopping to realize the potential of this relatively-new
sales medium. Judging by the numbers, it was a resounding
success; depending on who you ask, e-commerce accounted
for from $4 billion to $15 billion in sales. Research firms
are also reporting positive numbers: Greenfield Online,
for example, reports that 89% of Internet shoppers on
their panel were extremely/very satisfied with their
holiday e-purchases. . . . click here for more
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