I hate public holidays. I don`t know when it happened, but it cannot be denied - I can`t stand having my workweek disrupted by a day or two of rest.
The pioneers of South African e-commerce have been and gone - leaving several steadily performing sites in their wake.
Basheera Khan, journalist, ITWeb
Now, that could be just the feverish rambling of an overworked brain, or it could be the valid complaint of someone trying to meet deadlines in a fast-paced industry that requires tremendous results in a very short time.
It doesn`t matter which aspect of the industry you`re involved in, either, or from which side of the fence you happen to be gazing - the trend is the same and spreading rapidly.
But despite this tremendous pressure to perform well, produce good results, capture new market space, grow client bases and improve business all around, there seems to be an inertia at the heart of it all, and more especially in the business-to-consumer (B2C) arena.
The mad rush to e-enable businesses, and to sell online to consumers has seemingly been overtaken by the broader business imperative of implementing and enabling business-to-business commerce. Research firms have been extolling the potential wealth to be gained from this space for what seems to be forever, in Internet time, and businesses are finally getting around to trying to extract that value.
Has this had a direct impact on the B2C space? I`m beginning to think so. What has happened to all the e-tailer sites? People are still launching them, it would appear, but not at the rate that got the e-tailing market started just over a year ago. Of course, that`s to be expected. The pioneers of South African e-commerce have been and gone - leaving several steadily performing sites in their wake.
But there are fewer new sites featuring different goods and services on offer. The question to be posed could well be whether there is room to sell or distribute anything new online. And if there is, what will it take to break people out of their seeming boredom with the online commerce industry?
Regression?
Where to from here? Online consumers grow at a slow, sometimes unsteady pace, and Web sites have taken to advertising their wares in mainstream media and allowing for sales across a more accessible channel - one with which the average consumer is familiar, and comfortable - the telephone. Is this a regression? Or are we just adopting the approach that should have been the forerunner of e-commerce, not an afterthought?
This line of thinking takes me back to my original bugbear - that of delivery charges. I still believe e-tailers overcharge for delivery, and until that issue can be addressed, I`m uncertain that we`ll see any huge growth in this space in the medium term.
Either that, or the B2C momentum has been well and truly lost. The industry is tired, methinks - bone weary of innovating, and increasingly bored with the results of its toil. The most exciting thing I`ve come across in recent weeks is Dack.com`s Web Economy Bullshit Generator. The enthusiasm with which this application has been received is indicative of just how jaded the average IT worker is.
And if you believe, as I do, that the success of an industry such as this is directly related to the enthusiasm of its bedrock staff, I think you`ll agree that it is in serious danger of boring itself to death.
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