Why transform to e-business? (page 2 of 2)

Your employees can use all of this information to sell more personalized products and services and to educate your customers.

Dotcom Business
Whether you are already a dotcom company or are about to become one, it's time to start thinking about becoming an e-business.

During the 1999 holiday season consumers logged on to the internet in record numbers. Millions of people flocked to the Web to buy their gifts. They placed millions of orders online, and the dotcoms accepted every one. However, this turned out to be a devastating mistake. In an embarrassing number of cases, customers did not receive their merchandise in time for the holidays. Why? Despite being Web-based companies, dotcoms are not e-businesses. Their demand chain and their supply chain were not integrated. As a result, the Web stores kept accepting customer orders long after the merchandise was out of stock.

So, let's ask the question again. Why become an e-business:

Only as an e-business can you integrate and streamline all of your systems. Your demand chain and your supply chain become one linked value chain—so your Web store, call center, enterprise applications, and suppliers are all connected. Once orders are received your suppliers can respond immediately, and you can keep your customers happy.

Thousands of dotcoms are already making the transition into e-business. How else do you plan on surviving the internet economy? How else are you going to foster click loyalty and take advantage of customer and business intelligence? In an economy where the fast outrun the slow, you don't have much of a choice.

Not convinced? As traditional businesses move their operations online your marketshare will be threatened at an increasing rate, whether you are a dotcom category leader or not. The new economy is changing the rules and you must fully understand what you are up against, online and off.