A representative sample of the many case studies I've written of big cap online businesses.
Case Study: Dell.com
Since its launch in the mid '90s, Dell's e-commerce business has been a poster child for the benefits of online sales, says Aberdeen Group analyst Kent Allen. The company's strategy of selling over the Internet -- with no retail outlets and no middleman -- has been as discussed, admired and imitated as any e-commerce model...
Case Study: Walmart.com
Wal-Mart's online experience is proof that success in the brick and mortar world doesn't create corresponding success in e-commerce. Offline, Wal-Mart is a sprawling giant, the world's largest retailer...
Case Study: Netflix - E-Commerce and Hollywood
The biggest challenge facing Netflix, says company spokesperson Rick Sneed, is educating customers about how its online DVD rental service works. "When you mention it to someone who's not familiar with it, they look at you weird," he says.
Case Study: Match.com
Online dating sites face a challenge that other e-commerce sites don't face. As Match.com marketing VP Melanie Angermann explains it, people have always been willing to talk about, say, buying a book or shopping for clothes on the Internet...
Case Study: Alibris
As an online bookseller, Alibris competes in a market dominated by e-commerce mega-sites like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. But next to these giants, Alibris is tiny. Compared with Amazon's 36.9...
Case Study: Gamesville
The experience of Gamesville.com reveals a highly effective e-commerce strategy: one of the most compelling ways to attract visitors is to offer games with real prizes. The site has parlayed this basic fact from its humble origins in the mid '90s as a Bingo site, coded with simple HTM...
Case Study: eDiets
If there's a single factor responsible for making eDiets the leading weight loss/fitness site, it's the company's aggressive marketing. "We are very routinely, in any given month, one of the top 10 Internet advertisers," says eDiets chief strategist Alison Tanner...
Case Study: Priceline
Although many e-commerce businesses were hurt by the events of 9/11, discount airfare site Priceline took a double blow. In the first few months after the terrorist attacks, air travel was viewed as favorably as a trip to the dentist...
Case Study: BarnesandNoble.com
Company In the race to capture the lucrative online book market, BarnesandNoble.com is one of the leaders. Its e-commerce infrastructure handles a heavy load, driving a Web site that gets 10 million unique visitors monthly, and offering real time selection on an in-stock inventory of about 1 million titles...
Case Study: Panasonic.com
As soon as online retailing came on the scene, analysts predicted the death of the middleman. Since the Web enabled consumers to buy directly from manufacturers - quite easily - the future of retailers looked dim...
