E-Commerce Is Here To Stay

E-commerce has revolutionized the business world and won’t disappear despite investors pulling the plug on many dot-coms, says Marcia H. Flicker, Ph.D., a Fordham University marketing professor. “Venture capitalists are disgusted [with the lack of returns],” she says. “The pendulum swung too far to the investment side in 1998 and 1999, and now it’s swung too far the other way. Investors are so conservative that they are reluctant to invest even in sustainable businesses.” Flicker says pure Internet-based companies will have limited success. However, “click and mortar” sites – those that are affiliated with a store and have catalogs in addition to a web address – will thrive. This strategy, employed by companies such as Pottery Barn and Eddie Bauer, is working well, she says. Flicker predicts that web services will start charging fees now that revenues from banner ads are waning. The fee structures will allow some users to pay a higher price to avoid unsolicited advertising. Flicker presented these and other ideas at the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International 2001 E-Commerce Conference last month. Fordham’s Graduate School of Business Administration was established in 1969. Its part-time MBA program is ranked 12th by U.S. News & World Report. The College of Business Administration, founded in 1920, is ranked among the “best buys” in undergraduate education by U.S. News & World Report.