But he's still the trailblazer of e-tailing. Whether he fails miserably or triumphs in the end, how he fares will tell us much about the next episode in the Internet saga. Indeed, economic slumps have been launchpads for companies who know how to take advantage of them. The outfits that are likely to pick up momentum in this downturn are the companies that create or adopt new technology, experiment with new business models, and expand aggressively. That's certainly been true in the past.
Slowdowns can be a great opportunity for companies that are prepared.
Co. The Internet's early winners focused on boosting sales. But during a downturn, that's not nearly enough. The Net can be used to supercharge every aspect of a company's operations, from market research and customer service to engineering collaboration and linking up suppliers. It was built from the ground up to capitalize on the Net. The company takes orders over the Web and automatically passes them to contract manufacturers who make and ship the products.