Times are changing faster than you might think. In the old economy, a dissatisfied supermarket shopper eventually returns to the store because there are only a few markets in any given area. In contrast, a frustrated online shopper will immediately log on to another site, perhaps never again to visit the first one. Failure to achieve it means sudden death. Both consumers and businesses are being offered Internet options at a dizzying pace.
Consumers can get a free second opinion on medical matters and even doctor ratings online.
Even the stately legal profession will soon have competitive bidding online. The Internet will become available on a broad range of existing and new appliances. Time today is measured in days and weeks. Forrester Research predicts that Web exchanges will account for 53 percent of all online business trade by 2004, and Gartner Group expects that they'll equal 37 percent of the total B2B market. There are now close to 600 B2B exchanges.