At the same time, transaction costs are now a tenth of what they were when appliance stores and builders phoned or faxed in orders.
Mistakes are down.
By plugging into the GE division's CustomerNet Internet site for retailers, Home Depot can offer consumers a huge variety of appliances. But it doesn't carry the inventory in its warehouses because GE delivers the products directly to the consumer's home. It has been only 15 months since GE Chairman John F. Welch ignited an e-business revolution at America's biggest conglomerate. Now evidence is piling up that a huge transformation is under way, as the maker of everything from jet engines to microwave ovens blurs the line between Old Economy behemoths and New Economy thoroughbreds. And analyst Nicholas P. Heymann of Prudential Securities estimates that by next year, two-thirds of the company's sales will be over the Net.