THE NET EFFECT

the long version

Amid all the talk about the personal net worth of 20-somethings running overvalued businesses, what are the real practical implications of the internet for established companies?There are 18.6 million people with internet access in the UK (source: Continental Research Report, 1999) Of those, 11.1 million are regular users and nearly six million have internet access at home. Each regular user spent an average of £170 online in 1999, making a total of £2 billion – one per cent of all retail purchases in the UK in that period. E-commerce is happening and it’s happening now.Not only are buying patterns changing, but the internet is causing a cultural shake-up which requires businesses to think about their customers in a different way. The generation growing up now have never known a world without the internet, and they have certain expectations because of that – expectations which cut right to the heart of their relationships with companies that want them as customers.