The Web & Commercialization

by simone(at)genesisnetwork.net (Demitrius)

 Date:  Sat, 24 Jan 1998 17:40:59 -0800
 To:  <hwg-theory(at)hwg.org>
  todo: View Thread, Original
Hi,

Someone recently asked if we thought the web was getting too commercial.
Well, some numbers are in for last year and it obviously paints a trend:

(The following is reposted *by permission* from the author)

� 1998 ICONOCAST  E-mail: michael(at)iconocast.com

E-COMMERCE WON BIG IN 1997
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the final analysis, e-commerce exploded in 1997. It grew
from a sub-$600 million level to nearly $9 billion, with 85
percent, or $7.5 billion, accounted for by business-to-
business. E-commerce's momentum was chiefly responsible for
the more than $300 million e-merchants poured into the
Internet portals to stake out high-traffic locations.
Forrester believes that the two leading sales categories
were computers and travel [although the latter estimate
is not supported by Simba's survey below]:
-------------------------------------------------------
Category                  1997         2000      Change
-------------------------------------------------------
PC hardware               $863M      $2,901M      236%
Travel                     654        4,741       625
Entertainment              298        1,921       545
Books/Music                156          761       388
Gifts/Flowers/Greetings    149          591       297
Apparel/Footwear            92          361       292
Food/Beverages              78          336       331
Jewelry                     38          107       182
Sporting goods              20           63       215
Consumer electronics        19           93       389
Other (toys, home, etc.)    65          197       203
-------------------------------------------------------
Total                   $2,432M     $12,072M      396%
Source: Jan-98 Forrester Research Inc.

------------------------------------------------------------
Rank  E-Commerce Category                       1997 Revenue
------------------------------------------------------------
1.   Business-to-business (Cisco, Dell, etc.)     $6,000M
2.   Auctions/Web Malls (Onsale, CUC, etc.)          204
3.   Online Services Malls (AOL, etc.)               195
4.   Books (Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, etc.)    181
5.   Computer resellers (NECX, ISN, etc.)            153
6.   Flowers & Gifts (800 Flowers, PC Flo., etc.)     70
7.   Grocery & Food (Peapod, Oncart)                  68
8.   Music (CDnow, N2K, etc.)                         52
9,   Travel (Preview Travel, Expedia, etc.)           47
10.   Retailers/Catalogers (Sharper Image, etc.)       31
------------------------------------------------------------
Total                                              $7,030M
Source: Jan-98 Cowles/Simba Information

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SALES SPIKE IN Q4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
According to Forrester Research, online sales reached nearly
$1 billion in fourth quarter, twice the volume for the same
period the year before. In December, cyberdialogue://findsvp
reported that 8 percent of the Internet population would
purchase, or planned to purchase, something online during
the 1997 holiday season.
--------------<end quote>--------------------

Like I said, commerce is just getting started. Wait until you see what
happens in just the next couple of years!

Regards,
Demitrius >I<
------------------------------------------------A. Demitrius Lopez
       W  E  B  S  I  T  E     D  E  V  E  L  O  P  E  R
                   I'd appreciate your vote
               to the HWG Governing Board
http://www.hwg.org/election1998/lopez.html
------------------------------------>I<------------------------------------

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