E-Business: Customers Come First?

• Author: Kutner, Joshua A.
• Position: Brief Article

Online merchants hoping to cash in on holiday shopping should listen to the advice of several industry experts, who recently gathered to figure out how to succeed in e-commerce.

These experts threw aside the notion that spiffy technology is important when creating a successful online business, proclaiming that technology doesn't mean squat, if you're not focused on the best interest of your customer. And this customer-oriented business is not just part of the holiday crunch--it's a 365- or 366-days-a-year job.

The four P's-price, product, place, promotion-"don't cut it anymore," said Jay Heroux, vice president for enterprise applications solutions, EDS Federal, at the Association For Enterprise Integration's 21st Century Commerce International Expo2000, in Albuquerque, N.M. But rather, Heroux, who has more than 14 years of experience in the federal and aerospace and defense industry, promoted the seven C's of the customer experience, namely content, communication, customer care, community, convenience, connectivity and customization.

Throw in security and privacy, and you have the answer, he said.

Technology vs. Customers

Heroux cited one company that was very competent at taking orders during the holiday season. Filling the orders was another story. A good company, he said, is able to keep its customers informed about their orders--when orders are taken, shipped and delivered. Companies should be able to notify customers if there are problems, such as if an item is out of stock. In the case cited by Heroux, a lot of people woke up on Christmas morning with their gifts stuck in cyberspace. You may have the most advanced Web site with the coolest graphics, but cool technology pales in comparison to customer needs.

The technology-vs.-customer-needs debate is applicable to what is happening at the Defense Department, which is trying to establish a supply chain management or logistics system that provides its customers--the war-fighters--with the right supplies as soon as they need them. The Pentagon spends $200 million a day on logistics, and despite having the self-proclaimed best military logistics system in the world, it needs to be better.

The department needs a logistics system that allows it to keep track of supplies at all times and provides for faster delivery times, officials said. The Pentagon is seeking a system where soldiers, sailors and airmen can purchase items wherever they are stationed.

The system, officials said, must be...