In a separate study by ActivMedia Inc., 21 percent of responding Web sites reported sales of more then $10,000. The study predicts $118 million in sales through web sites from September 1994, to August 1995.
8.The mental paradox.
Planning is a process which creates a present that is hopefully improved over the past. Since no one can predict the future, this process relies on the mental capacities of managers to assimilate information to predict and then change accordingly. Currently, the Internet does not have a place in the mental matrix. The Internet, once the hype and hyperbole are stripped away, requires non- traditional thinking. It’s a brand new game requiring a brand new set of rules. And, without an educated understanding of cyberspace, the mental exercise for managers is futile in the planning process.
The paradox is that there is no comprehensive explanation of the Internet which managers can incorporate into their thinking process. Unlike the children’s story, the sky is not falling, it is being organized into a new entity, which future spectral analysis will reveal in detail. The problem is we can’t wait for the analysis and must move into this new marketplace with educated assumptions, long-range strategy, and realistic expectations.
Conclusion: Making a Plan
It is our hope that recognizing the aforementioned issues involved with Internet marketing will be the first step in eliminating the problems and helping the reader move on with this exciting direct marketing opportunity. The numbers and potential are very promising.
In a recent report entitled: Electronic Marketplace 1995: Strategies for Connecting Buyers and Sellers produced by SIMBA Information Inc., a 27% increase of revenues from electronic transfer of tangible goods occurred between 1994 and 1994. The report states that revenues for this period climbed to $362 million and include all electronic mediums including response TV and kiosks.
The private on-line services account for the majority of transactions in the electronic marketplace and sales generated from business and consumer on-line marketing efforts represent 90% of the market, or $324.9 million in 1994, according to the report.
Although the Internet represented only 6% of transactions in 1994, the study predicts it will be the second largest electronic marketplace by the year 2000 with revenues nearing $950 million.
The question presently facing the Internet market how do we overcome the problems previously mentioned to the profits predicted by the year 2000? The only way to do this is to educate ourselves on this new