Table of Contents

Forewords (Read More About the Contributors)

Introduction

PART ONE: The New E-Conomy

Chapter One: E-Commerce Thinking
A look at the growing impact of the Internet and how businesses are transforming their strategies and operations. To survive in today's e-conomy requires a new way of thinking about everything: legacy systems, legacy processes and legacy people. Companies must re-examine the current "industrial-age" structure in which they operate and transform to an Internet-age one. All functional lines of business, all business processes, all customer and partner relationships can and should change. In closing, the latest trends of e-commerce are summarized, along with the impact of these trends on business models.

Chapter Two: Business Models for the E-Conomy
E-Commerce is affecting how companies do business with each other, whether it is a vendor, supplier or customer relationship, or many different forms of strategic partnerships. The Internet has created new ways to participate as a partner when conducting business. The role and purpose of fulfillment has changed considerably. With all the changes in business models, new revenue streams can be created in the process. This chapter examines the options and tradeoffs involved in establishing new business models, including product versus service based approaches.

PART TWO: Deploying E-Commerce

Chapter Three: The Plan Is the Thing
Several key elements are needed in an e-commerce (e.g. business) plan to ensure success. This chapter focuses on these key elements, as well as how to put the whole plan together for transformation of a company into a holistic Internet-enabled entity.

Chapter Four: Customer Touch Points
Conducting business successfully requires that companies first capture the attention of potential or existing customers. But that is not sufficient. There are five phases during which the customers interact with the company, and they need to be happy and satisfied with their experience during all of these phases. This chapter addresses those touch points, and also the overriding importance of customer relationship management (CRM).

Chapter Five: Content Will Always Be King
It is said that content is king when it comes to the Internet, and it is often the only differentiator among companies who have an online presence. Content will draw and keep visitors at the site. A key tactic today is to deploy contextual commerce where the offer to buy is made at the right place at the right time within context. Regardless of what is bought or sold via e-commerce, what makes the difference is the perceived value of the content that is associated with the company's products and services. It is both an art and a science to constantly maintain and e-volve the appropriate content whether is created internally or syndicated elsewhere.

Chapter Six: Instant Global Presence
Once a company establishes an online presence, like it or not, they are global. There are many ramifications that affect business transactions, including multilingual issues, different currencies, logistics, and marketing approach. Some guidelines on how to manage and e-volve the global nature of e-commerce are presented in this chapter.

Chapter Seven: Outsourcing is Always an Option
Emerging technologies such as networking systems and software are enabling distributed applications for many different business functions. It is becoming possible to outsource nearly every aspect of conducting online business, including applications hosting and management of business processes. Outsourcing vendors are growing in number, and these options need to be considered when deploying your holistic Internet-enabled entity.

PART THREE: Maintaining Momentum

Chapter Eight: New Expectations for Customer Service
With the e-commerce business model, customers have more ways of contacting the company, both before and after the sale (known as customer "touch points"). This creates infrastructure complexities for the organization, as well as higher expectations on the part of customers. It will be critical for companies to pay more attention to customer service, which will become a competitive differentiator for them.

Chapter Nine: Legacy People, Processes and Systems: Managing the E-Commerce Organization
An e-commerce enabled organization is by its very nature widely distributed. Parts of the organization may have been outsourced to business partners or service providers. The impact on the organizational chart can be tremendous. Different organizational structures may be required in order to manage e-commerce businesses efficiently. The human resource considerations and possible models are included in this chapter.

Chapter Ten: Ongoing Internet Marketing
Companies may believe that once they have set up their e-commerce website, their marketing is complete. Not so. The "field of dreams" concept worked in 1995-96, but does not apply today. Capturing the attention of new and existing customers will be a continuing and challenging effort, and it is necessary for survival. Some factors to consider are presented in this chapter, along with some creative ways to keep the marketing presence fresh and interesting.

Chapter Eleven: The Law Catches Up to E-Businesses
Federal governments and international standards organizations are working to resolve issues that affect e-commerce enabled companies, whether they are "click-and mortar" or pure e-commerce plays. These issues include privacy, dispute resolution, contractual obligations, spam legislation, taxes and more. A review of these issues and a discussion of possible impacts are presented in this chapter.

PART FOUR: E-Volving the Future

Chapter Twelve: Shifting Markets
As companies find new ways of collaborating and partnering online, new business models will evolve, and new markets will be created that don't even exist today. It will require constant vigilance of technology and market trends to identify opportunities. One of the biggest challenges businesses will face is the integration of new business models and new technology with existing infrastructure in an environment that lasts for a short period of time. Businesses will need to create new ways to find and develop customers and partners, as well as developing the new products and services that will meet their needs.

Chapter Thirteen: A View From the Real World
Several companies of all sizes have been evolving their companies, and we can all learn from their experiences as well as their predictions of future trends. A selection of interviews and cases illustrate some of the hot buttons and hot trends that will affect the business world going forward.

Chapter Fourteen: Change is Constant, Change is Good
With change comes problems and challenges, but also many opportunities. It requires an open and creative mind as well as flexibility to adapt to the rapidly evolving world of e-commerce. A view of life in the year 2025 is presented with the premise that "if you have a glimpse of life in the future, you will be better off preparing for it today. Some words of wisdom summarize the management challenges that companies must face in evolving their companies into the future.

Appendix A: Selected Cases
 E-Commerce examples from real companies (UPS, Office Depot & Cardinal Health) are presented in standard case format in this appendix. The intent is to view these companies from the perspective of e-volution and to highlight what areas discussed in the book apply for each situation.

Appendix B: An E-Commerce Primer
A combination of a glossary and dictionary, this appendix will be an illustrated reference of widely accepted e-commerce principles and terminology.

Appendix C: Resources and Bibliography
Additional resources that address e-commerce will be listed, to include books, articles, and an extensive listing of websites that focus on current issues.

Appendix D: End Notes
A chapter by chapter reference to resources used plus a short company description of all contributors in each chapter. Read More About the Contributors.