Internet Leaders Provide Manufacturers And Retailers Key Insights For Taking Their Businesses Online

During Retailing & the Internet - A One-Day Investment with Net Payoffs, sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association (CEMA), held recently in Dallas, Texas, Internet pioneers and experts gave manufacturers and retailers key insights into the developing and exploding world of e-commerce. A packed house of top manufacturers and retailers such as Bernina, Casio, Conair, Cyberworld, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, JC Penney's, Mitsubishi Electric, NEC Technologies, Recoton Corp., Sharp Electronics, Sony Electronics, Sprint, Tandy, The Container Store, Toshiba, Uniden, Yamaha and Zenith, heard first hand from Internet leaders America Online, Cyberian Outpost, QVC Interactive, 800.COM and others on how to do business on the Web, and more importantly, why. ""With networking and educational events such as yesterday's conference, governmental policy initiatives, numerous published articles and research studies, CEMA is expanding the growth opportunities created by the Internet for manufacturers and retailers,"" said Gary Shapiro, CEMA president. ""Digital technology is exploding with electronic products and services among the top purchases of online buyers. Our industry needs to understand how to create new business paradigms as e-commerce continues to escalate."" Bob Pittman, President and COO of America Online, stressed to attendees that they must get in e-commerce early or they will be left behind. ""The Internet is changing the fundamentals,"" commented Pittman. ""It solves the classic sales problem of getting your customers interested in your products, giving them information and transacting business."" Noted author and journalist Jaclyn Easton told attendees, ""The window of opportunity is still open, but get involved now."" Easton guided attendees to the best practices in e-tailing and discussed how to get more online customers, how to get them to your site more often and how to get them to spend more money. Unveiling new consumer research, Todd Thibodeaux, Vice President of Market Research and Senior Economist for CEMA, showed that online shopping is not just a fad. Conducted via e-mail with 2,725 online households in the United States responding, Online Shopping: Impacts on Consumer Technology found that only 6 percent of respondents think online shopping is just a novelty. In fact, 29 percent of the respondents expect to double their online buying in the next 12 months. ""Successful retailers need a Web site to compliment their physical presence. More than 40 percent of consumers who use brick-and-mortar retail in combination with cyber-retail are more likely to patronize a retailer with a companion Internet storefront,"" said Thibodeaux. In the debate between manufacturers and retailers on whether to go online or not, speakers said it now was a question of when, not if. John McDonald, the recently retired President and CEO of Casio, said, ""All (consumer electronics) manufacturers will be on the Net in five years.""Steve Antisdel, President of FurnitureFind Corp., commented, ""Retailers are reacting to misplaced fear. Manufacturers need to educate retailers on how e-commerce will grow the pie for all."" Whether manufacturers opt to go the Web alone or partner with online retailers, Darryl Peck, President and CEO of Cyberian Outpost, offered some key words of wisdom to help manufacturers find the right online retailer relationship. ""Look to see if they follow a price or a customer service model,"" remarked Peck. ""Do they preserve the integrity of your brand in co-branded sites, in co-op ads and e-mails? Do they maintain your products' value information and selection, intuitive online navigation and a 24-hour telephone and e-mail customer contact center?""Peck further stated, ""The Internet and e-commerce have been imprinted on consumer behavior. E-commerce provides new channels and opportunities to extend your business globally. With the right alliances, business sales will boom."" Attendees seemed to take the speakers' advice to heart and complimented the conference. Carol Schwartz, marketing director for Motorola, said, ""I'm new to this business (e-commerce) and wanted an education. I got it here."" E-commerce also will be a key business topic at the 2000 International CES - Your Source for Workstyle and Lifestyle Technology Retailing & the Internet - a One-Day Investment with Net Payoffs was co-sponsored by the American Hardware Manufacturers Association, Electronic Retailing Association, National Housewares Manufacturers Association, North American Retail Dealers Association and Professional Audio Video Retailers Association.