E-Business Profiles: Profiles 31-40
As the profile of Metacritic demonstrates, some of these sites are making money selling content, not goods. And as the profile of MFW Vacation Rentals shows, some of these businesses aren't selling anything at all online, but using the Internet as a conduit to their offline business.
~ James Maguire
Suppleye.com Boasts Successful Operation
[A medical supplies e-tailer uses IBM's Websphere e-commerce platform to manage a deluge of data.]
The complexity of data flow that Suppleye.com handles on a daily basis is enough to impress even a veteran network engineer. Suppleye.com sells an Internet-based supply chain management service to small, outpatient surgery centers...
RideGear Find New Platform to Cruise On
[A retailer of motorcycle uses the Venda e-commerce software to run a site with tens of thousands of products.]
By 2004, RideGear had far outgrown its existing e-commerce platform. Launched in 2000, the motorcycle accessories site grew to carry 50,000 skus, but its platform hadn't been able to scale larger with the business's growth...
MainStreet Commerce Helps Retailer Save Money, Time
[An outdoor gear seller relies on the MainStreet Commerce application to handle its order flow.]
For years, outdoor clothing e-tailer Ex Officio struggled with the limitations of its e-commerce platform. Based on an old version of Microsoft Commerce Server, the software provided "a very manual process for something that should have been automated," says Chad Luellen, the site's e-commerce manager...
No Inventory, But Lots of Customers
[A computer seller manages a virtual store, which holds no inventory but simply fills orders on demand.]
It's a scenario that is only possible in the world of e-commerce: Kim O'Neill's online business generates some $3 million in annual revenue, but holds no inventory. As the proprietor of PCSound, a retailer of computer gear like printers and monitors, he simply takes orders through his site, then routes them to his wholesalers, who drop ship to his customers...
Revving Up Sales with an E-Commerce Overhaul
[A discount computer seller talks about doing business online.]
Matt Richards says he "wouldn't be in business" if he hadn't rebuilt his e-commerce platform. Richards, the founder of DiscountLaptops, used off-the-shelf software when he launched his site in 1996.
SermonCentral Preaches the Value of Automation
[A content site finds a way to monetize its inventory and turn a profit.]
The challenge facing SermonCentral.com was straightfoward, but not an easy one to overcome. The Utah-based company needed to create enough income to keep the site growing? The company bills itself as "Your Sermon Resource Center" and the facts would appear to back up that claim...
Easy to Manage, Easy to Shop
[A family business, highly experienced in traditional retailing, makes the switch to e-commerce.]
David Cohen had been in the jewelry business for over twenty years before the e-commerce tidal wave hit. He certainly had the expertise in diamonds and gems to open an online store...
Niche Target Market? Think Search!
[A vacation property owner uses Yahoo keyword search terms to draw customers to her site.]
As the owner of MFW Vacation Rentals, Cheryl Quist needs to reach an almost invisible sliver of the Internet audience: People who are looking for a short-term rental near the little town of Mendicino, Calif....
Selling Content, Not Just Ads
[A site that aggregates reviews of movies, books, and video games turns a profit by selling advertising.]
Metacritic.com is that most unlikely of e-commerce business: a small site that turns a profit by offering content instead of selling items. Launched in 2001 by three ex-lawyers, Metacritic aggregates the opinions of many leading film, music and video game critics into one site...
Camping Gets an E-Commerce Makeover
[A well-established non-profit upgrades its e-commerce platform to improve its navigation and customer service.]
The American Camping Association 's e-commerce operation faced a problem all too common: "We used cheesy shopping cart software," says Tom Schenk, the organization's IT director. The inefficient shopping cart was part of the site's 300-title bookstore, which sells camp management books and videos to the non-profit organization's 30,000 customers...
