Most retailers will be losers, he adds, especially wholesalers and pure middlemen. BMW will soon become the first automaker with an online configuration capability such as that now used by vendors of complex technical gear. Both-if the upstarts figure out how to make money, and if the giants learn to move fast. In a world where consumers have all the information, a manufacturer or retailer needs only a great Web site. The manufacturer is left only with delivering what the customer wants.
Brand remains important, but only when the customer perceives value in it.
What will count are quality, selection, customization, and price. He envisions the 21st-century Internet as Marshall McLuhan's global village come true. Barriers to interpersonal communications will fall away. Humans will be better able to connect with, to trust, and to do business with each other. With virtually no advertising, he has signed up 10 million ICQ members.