What this means for small businesses in Northern Indiana for the near future is uncertain. There can be little doubt that e-commerce, that phantom phrase which describes people buying merchandise by computers on the World Wide Web, has become another visible competitor for local merchants. E-commerce is growing at rates outpacing the most optimistic predictions of industry experts. With Christmas just around the corner, e-commerce will grab an even larger chunk of market share. And if they do, they'd better develop and understanding of the challenges doing business over the Net requires.
Communication technology is a fast flowing river moving through a windy thunderstorm.
Web time is much faster than standard business time. In the months it would take a normal business to plan, raise capital, and build a place of business, web commerce will have advanced 25 years. Four years ago Amazon. Com was a new company hoping to sell books over the Web. Yet Amazon doesn't own one store.