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E-Business
Issues
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FINGER
CLICKIN' GOOD!
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But
then, something went wrong. The eyeballs were happening,
the hits were there, the page views were extensive,
the off-line coverage was excellent (the media wrote
about every portal, never mind whether it was a paanwallah
on the net or a portal that specialised in performing
shradh for the dead by remote access) — but the revenue
models, especially the e-commerce revenues, just refused
to take off.
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Touching
the mango? Yes, it’s possible today. The mouse pad
that allows you to feel the texture is already here!
Smelling the mango? Yes, possible. Digiscents, Colorado,
has already patented the technology of smells that
can be transmitted through the Net.
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The
Internet marketplace is a rather natty piece of ‘virtual
estate’ (contrasted with ‘real estate’ from our brick-and-mortar
lives)! Lots of things happening here. In a nutshell,
the e-marketplace is certainly not to be written off
or shoved aside in our collective marketing psyche as
a bubble that burst. Not even today, when half the marketing
badshahs of cyberspace are hunting for a foothold in
the real world once again! There’s a lot of action in
Internet space then. A lot of action amidst this entire
churn. And the focus of this place is the thin trend
line that is emerging in the marketplace mechanics of
the future. A feature that many a portal and vortal
has attempted to incorporate in its dream of becoming
a robust dotcom player with a robust revenue stream
from the e-world of e-business! Every portal starts
with its information façade as the prime USP to the
info-seeking consumer in cyberspace. Every finger clicking
away furiously at the mouse is after all out there in
cyberspace hunting either for information or entertainment.
Having lured in the guy seeking either info or entertainment,
it is then the task of the portal-peddler to open these
doors a little wider. He now has to provide for all
those cyber consumers a reason to return repeatedly
to his site — and once they are well and truly settled
in, clicking away furiously and discovering more and
more joys from the site they have virtually made their
foster home, it’s time to strike!
In other words: it’s time to get the real purpose of
it all going. Time to strike the gong and get to the
real business of cyber-business. Unleash e-commerce
and its many avatars with all the vengeance that was
last seen bottled up in the business plan the VC had
lapped up in the early days of ‘dotcomminess’. And that’s
when the action begins. (Hopefully that’s also around
the time when the IPO is happening, the NASDAQ listing
is getting on and the CEO has a jerky jaunt in his stride!)
Almost every portalwallah worth his domain name has
gone through these paces with a prayer on the lips and
a competitive job offer in his hip pocket. Every step
has been a milestone achieved with long hours of investment,
sleepless nights, ulcer-filled bellies and Internet
hangovers of every hue and cry.
But then, something went wrong. The eyeballs were happening,
the hits were there, the page views were extensive,
the off-line coverage was excellent (the media wrote
about every portal, never mind whether it was a paanwallah
on the net or a portal that specialised in performing
shradh for the dead by remote access) — but the revenue
models, especially the e-commerce revenues, just refused
to take off. All the e-shops that had opened on the
Net had distinct attractions, like easy one-shop access,
the relaxed ambience of a 24 x 7 (open 24 hours, seven
days a week), privacy of the best kind, secure transactions
(particularly across sites in the US and the developed
world of the old economy) and much else. What then went
wrong?
Here is a theory from a brick-and-mortar practitioner.
Gulp it with a shovel of salt, if you will!
The Internet marketplace is not too different from the
real marketplace. It’s a marketplace after all! A marketplace
were the seller meets buyer, without the clutter of
dis-intermediation glorified by the middlemen of the
real world! The buyer is out there searching for information,
entertainment, and products and services that will satisfy
his latent wants, needs and desires; some of which he
knows exist, and some of which the seller strives to
create in true marketing style.
If the two marketplaces are not too different, a simple
way of looking at things is to see how purchases happen
in the real world and strive to replicate the process
online (without the interfering presence of the middleman
of course)
It’s simple then. Look at how the consumer in the real
marketplace picks up a case of mangoes. She gets into
the marketplace, jostles her way to the retailer, looks
at all the mangoes on sale, looks very carefully at
the mango on display, picks it up and views it all around
to check out defects if any, feels it to see if it feels
right, smells it to check on its quality, and maybe
even gets a slice of the mango to taste.
Wow! That’s the real world! Can you imagine this happening
in the virtual world represented by the keyboard, computer
screen, modem, dial-up phone line and remote server
as participants?
Yes, I can! And I am sure it will happen. Let’s scenario-paint
the process. He or she or it (I use these words as we
are not too sure whether it is a human being at the
other end of a mouse or a dog that is shopping on the
Net — nor do we give a damn!) logs on to a favourite
site. There is a mango on sale here is well. In the
old days, you could see a picture of the mango. In one
dimension, but in full colour. Today, technology allows
you to rotate the visual across all degrees of view.
A 360-degree perspective is possible, all at the rotation
of your mouse or track point! You can get to see all
the positives and the chinks of the mango on offer.
You are able to see it, and see it well!
Touching the mango? Yes, it’s possible today. The mouse
pad that allows you to feel the texture is already here!
It’s expensive today, but prices will come down soon
enough. Smelling the mango? Yes, possible. Digiscents,
Colorado, has already patented the technology of smells
that can be transmitted through the Net. You can actually
smell the mango then!
Tasting it? Who knows what research is happening in
this arena at the outer periphery of Net research?
Never say never to a possibility on the Net. It will
happen —only it could take time. And that is the new
paradigm to adopt! . |
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