During 2000, financial reality met the dot-com world. The internet is just another channel, not a separate business. A customer's experience does not end at the Web site. Internet services and content are not free. E-marketplaces need buyers AND suppliers.
Consumers care about their privacy and security.
Over the past decade or so, they have watched Australia's largest food manufacturer stagger from one crisis to the next, all the time pushing its share price to new lows. Time after time, just when the bad news appears to be over, another profit downgrade, management change or cost blowout is unveiled, and Goodman shares take another tumble. Goodman directors did not take the offer to shareholders, and have not explained why. In the margarine market, for example, Goodman continues to engage in price wars that destroy profit margins, undermine the power of its brands, and reinforce to consumers the message that price is the only product differentiator in the category. Constant restructuring and writedowns have made it impossible to predict Goodman's earnings with any certainty.