MRO Today - Is e-commerce dead?

Is e-commerce dead?

by Paul V. Arnold

I think I’m going to do one of those MTV "Where are they now?" features on the Gartner Group. Did those guys split up and pursue solo careers?

Throughout 1999 and 2000, Gartner released several reports forecasting astronomical utilization of business-to-business e-commerce during a 24- to 48-month period. Clearly caught up in the dot-com hype, the Connecticut-based research firm predicted global B2B e-commerce would reach $1 trillion in 2001, $2.2 trillion in 2002, $4 trillion in 2003 and $7.3 trillion in 2004. It predicted online marketplaces would hold a dominant stake in the overall market, and stated companies that didn’t take an aggressive and immediate approach to e-business would lose customers and/or go out of business.

"The B2B explosion is imminent, fueled by a combustible mixture of investment financing, IT spending and opportunistic euphoria," said Gartner analyst Leah Knight in January 2000.

Well, it hasn’t quite reached euphoria; and the explosion you heard earlier this year was NASDAQ’s balloon popping.

Want reality? A Harris poll in January 2001 showed only 36 percent of industrial supply buyers currently use the Internet to conduct any transactions. A Texas A&M University study in late 2000 showed a combined 26 percent of MRO product manufacturers and distributors accept orders online, and less than half expected to be e-business enabled by December 2001.

Those dominant online marketplaces? Among MRO sites . . .

• Eventory and SourceAlliance.com are out of business.

• Excara (formerly PurchasingCenter.com) closed its marketplace, is now focused on software and services, and is struggling to survive.

• 44Degrees.com and Sorcity.com never achieved critical mass.

• MROLink is focused on the catalog business.

• TotalMRO.com was absorbed into Grainger.com.

• MRO.com folded its marketplace into its Maximo software offering.

• And, EqualFooting.com and FacilityPro.com are mere niche players.

Does all this mean e-commerce is dead or dying? No way. Far from it.

What it does mean is that it’s no longer about hype, eye-popping Gartner predictions, or companies that know little, if anything, about fulfillment.

Want reality? Read "Gee, e-business," our cover story on General Electric. It shows how Internet tools can dynamically impact a company, and how you can use some of GE’s best B2B practices.