Just as Tom Koulopoulos's X-economy predicts, the markets have changed because of the traction and interaction of interested parties. In the early, stages of B2C commerce, many sites were dismayed by the results of their actions. Much money was spent on Web-based stores and the means to drive traffic to them. We have all learnt from this process. The market was at a primitive stage of development, and many made the poor assumption of "build it and they will come." A time of flashing banner ads. Web counters and garish colors. My guess is that most visitors would have been put off just by the design. However. when the ingredients of poor functionality, performance, arid security were added, consumers were kept at bay for a good period of time. Whether you are starting a new Web store, or are a large brick-and-mortar wanting to leverage the Web, the way forward, the benefits. and the means to the end are much more obvious. With Web-based commerce now clearly established as a buying channel, it makes no
sense to stay out of it. There are very few products that cannot be
researched, compared, or bought on the Web. EBay had an auction
recently for a mansion in Europe on-line, car shopping is made easier,
and as a research vehicle the Web is a great boon to B2C commerce in
general.

Many organizations will focus on the Web purely to extend their
offerings and see it not as a transaction engine but as a way to create new
and incremental revenue. We continue to develop a more sophisticated
understanding of where and how to use the Web. Much has been learnt
from the mistakes of the early days.

During the evolution of e-business programs and strategies, many
forewarned of "terrible consequences" for those firms that stayed away
from e-business and its huge growth potential. Despite the durability
and size of the markets, in many cases the e-Business component
was "taking away" from the regular commerce activities. This was a
function of automation and process improvements that new business
models wanted and demanded.
Most of the really big and successful companies either created a
community or new marketplaces for existing products: Altra Energy
selling excess energy products; GoFish.com bringing value and stability.
to a volatile marketplace: eBay creating a whole new destination for
buyers and sellers on the Web. Not all of the transitions have been
successful: Egghead made a bold move to get out of the retail business
and rely, on the Web as a means to sell their products - one that turned
out to result in their demise. Lots of bets were made. some won
and some lost. So what does all this mean to businesses around the
world? How should we apply these tools and principles to our business
area?