E-commerce

As use of the Internet has grown by leaps and bounds, it is clear that electronic commerce will proliferate rapidly in the years ahead. The number of Internet domains in the United States is more than 1.3 million. Most major companies now have Web sites, if only to market themselves, and many others are exploiting intranets to improve internal operations. As many as 163 million personal computers worldwide will have access to the Internet by the year 2000. …

…ingenious way to access the daily "mind share" of users that Windows 95 enjoys. Its freely distributed ICQ software places a flower icon in the task bar of Windows 95, giving the company direct access to users, who can conveniently click into the ICQ domain. Access is not enough to succeed in this business model, however. The online business generally must meet higher standards of performance than conventional businesses, and cultivate more transparent, trusting relationships with users.