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CONSUMER OR BUSINESS, E-COMMERCE IS EVOLVING

The evolution of on-line commerce has been a strange one. Initially, business-to-consumer strategies were king and the equity markets crowned them with billions of dollars. Among the many recipients of the largess were Internet-based direct-to-consumer grocery sales, most with no ties to traditional food retailers.On-line purveyors of grocery product spent vast sums on backstage logistics with the

The evolution of on-line commerce has been a strange one. Initially, business-to-consumer strategies were king and the equity markets crowned them with billions of dollars. Among the many recipients of the largess were Internet-based direct-to-consumer grocery sales, most with no ties to traditional food retailers.

On-line purveyors of grocery product spent vast sums on backstage logistics with the idea of building such efficiency into the process that a fundamental contradiction in the activity could be overcome. The contradiction concerned the challenge of how to deliver low-margin grocery and perishable product into consumers' hands, and of how eventually to do so profitably.

The fundamental contradiction of the whole thing proved to be intractable, especially when the equity markets withdrew and effectively closed the door to the laboratory.

Then, attention switched to business-to-business strategies. The Internet came to be seen as a place for retailers to reach manufacturers, and the reverse. Gathered on the Internet, it was thought, businesses could conduct auctions, promulgate production data and, in the end, enhance the efficiency of the entire farm-to-table continuum. Again, the equity markets withdrew from the stage before systems were fully in place.

But, despite the fact that the gush of money directed toward anything with ".com" in its name has dried, these dreams and strategies still have life left in them.

Rewards may still go to B-to-C practitioners who are able to co-brand with established retailers. That allows them to take advantage of the trust implicit in an established retail brand, and should allow distribution synergies to evolve.

Many retailers are building B-to-C propositions from the ground up to take advantage of that possibility. And, absent pressure from third-party providers with absurd capitalization levels, they now enjoy the luxury of proceeding slowly and getting it right.

Meanwhile, B-to-B continues to make a lot of sense, especially as a means to ultimately align manufacturers' production levels with actual consumption.

It's a process that may take some time, but it's worth doing and may fulfill the promise of the Efficient Consumer Response initiative of a decade ago.

All of that brings us to the Supermarket News-Executive Technology Summit conference to be March 25 to 27 at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel & Spa in Pasadena, Calif. (Executive Technology is one of the Fairchild Publications, as is SN.)

At the Summit, results of an original research pro-ject, executed by Gomez Inc. and commissioned by Fairchild, will be presented. The research will detail what any practitioner of the B-to-C craft needs to know about on-line shoppers, such as what on-line consumers think is good and bad about the experience and how all-critical repeat business can be won.

Additionally, a number of keynote speeches and panels will be offered. Most of the speaker roster is drawn from the chief-executive level, representing both B-to-B and B-to-C enterprises.

On the social side, there will be numerous activities available, from dining to golf to horseback riding.

Information about the conference is easy to obtain. Start by reading the news article about the Summit on Page 14. Also, a Summit brochure is available at SN's Web site (see the top of this page). Finally, further detail can be obtained by calling (212) 630-4787. We hope to see you there.