|
 |  | |
|
 |
about Asia Buzz | more Asia Buzz
Bah, Humbug
All I want for Christmas is my online-ordered gift
By ERIC ELLIS
December 23, 1999
Web posted at 7 a.m. Hong Kong time, 6 p.m. EDT
This year's Grinch who stole Christmas just might be Anderson Consulting. At least that's what a lot of aspiring Internet tycoons, and more than a few couch potatoes, think, thanks to its survey of holiday season e-commerce activity conducted in the United States in the past few weeks.
| |
ASIA BUZZ
|
Asia Buzz: Billgatesland
What 787 million shares of Microsoft really means
- Tuesday, Dec. 21, 1999
Asia Buzz: Play and Win!
Test your knowledge of Asian affairs
- Monday, Dec. 20, 1999
Culture on Demand: High Roller
You can bet on a perfect day in Macau
- Saturday, Dec. 18, 1999
Letter from Japan: A Bunch of Old Men and a Baby
Legislators play politics with a royal birth
- Friday, Dec. 17, 1999
Asia Buzz: Silicon Beach
BaliCamp is betting sun, surf and sand will breed killer apps
- Thursday, Dec. 16, 1999
Asia Buzz: Fear and Loathing in Shenzhen
It's not called a special economic zone for nothing
- Wednesday, Dec. 15, 1999
|
|
|
ALSO IN TIME
|
Market Q&A
Each business evening with analysts around the region
|
|
ASIAWEEK
| |
|
The Andersen findings should resonate around the cyberworld. The company's consultants recently logged on to do their holiday shopping and study the state of the e-commerce market at the same time. Their verdict? Less than impressed for the e-xperience.
Between December 3-10, the Andersen people tried to order some 480 gift items from a range of 100 e-commerce sites, from Amazon.com down. The shopping satisfaction ratio was only 73%--just 380 of the orders were properly filled. And that was in the U.S., the convenience economy where the Internet is supposed to have entrenched itself into the consumer mindset.
Curiously, for students of the human psyche, Andersen's downbeat report didn't effect the roaring liftoff of the Net-heavy NASDAQ exchange. As news began to filter out about Andersen's less-than-stellar verdict on Net commerce, punters responded by trading the NASDAQ and its component Net heavyweights up more than 127 points Tuesday, one of its strongest rises in a phenomenal year. The NASDAQ has risen 90% so far this year, 25% of it in the past month--in expectation of an e-commerce Christmas bonanza.
But as TIME's Person of the Year Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com continually exhorts anyone who listens, not even 99% customer satisfaction is good enough when it comes to cyber-fulfillment. That's particularly important when you already have to wait days and--in undeveloped Asia's case--sometimes weeks to get purchases ordered online. For e-commerce to really take here (or anywhere) 100% customer satisfaction has to be guaranteed.
For Andersen, trying to buy online is only half of it. The next part of its survey comes in the New Year, when consultants will try to return unwanted or damaged goods. "The fundamental question being posed this holiday season is if it's cheaper, faster and more convenient to shop online," says Andersen's Robert Mann. "The answer is it may not be better to go to the Web--yet."
The market still hasn't overcome big issues like online privacy and secure payment methods to have to contend with also thorny issues like goods that aren't delivered or sites that don't load quickly enough (or that crash) or that don't properly read the order. Reliability is everything when it comes from e-commerce and online trading.
For example, I logged onto the Hong Kong-based online broker's site Boom.com recently to check a few share prices. I tapped in the required company codes but for three days got numbers and data from companies I did not request. There was a glitch in the system, and while Boom seems to have since ironed it out it doesn't fill me with confidence if ever I wanted to use it to place a trade, particularly when already their prices are 15 minutes behind the region's major markets. The essential message from Andersen for Asian e-commerce Netpreneurs is get the back office and fulfillment parts right before rolling out those local Net giants.
Andersen's report means it might be a downbeat holiday season for many families, yet to see any sign of their online gift purchase experiments. Few things are sadder than a child whose Christmas stocking is not filled, and few things are madder than a parent rushing around at the last minute making sure that doesn't happen.
If Santa Claus and his little helpers from the North Pole are able to deliver presents around the world in just one night, why can't the Internet? Maybe some of the billions being minted on the NASDAQ could be better spent answering that question.
Write to TIME at mail@web.timeasia.com
Search for recent Asia Buzz
TIME Asia home
| | LATEST HEADLINES: |
Click Here for the latest regional analysis from TIME Asia
|
|
|
