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Freeborders' Co-CEO John Cestar Participates in Gartner Group Outsourcing Summit Panel
Contacts: Tim Johnson for Freeborders, 415.397.7600
tjohnson@stearnsjohnson.com
SAN FRANCISCO, April 7, 2005 – Freeborders, Inc., the premier provider of IT and software application outsourcing services from China announced that Co-CEO John Cestar participated yesterday in Gartner Group's Oursourcing Summit, held in Los Angeles, April 4-6.
Mr. Cestar was selected to be one of just 12 outside speakers to participate in the Summit, presenting with more than 40 Gartner Group analysts. He served on the panel titled, “Offshore Growth Accelerators and Inhibitors Around the World.”
“China is clearly the emerging leader in software development outsourcing,” Mr. Cestar noted. “They already have a number of significant advantages over India, and these advantages will only continue to grow.” Among the advantages Mr. Cestar cited include:
• China produces 150,000 – 200,000 new software engineers per year, all of whom speak English. India is expected to have a shortage of these engineers by 2007
• New, highly-developed infrastructure – roads, electrical grid, etc. – that ensures easy mobility for employees and a productive work environment
• Little or no wage inflation and turnover – Wage inflation and employee turnover in China is near zero, while in India, wage inflation is as high as 30 percent and turnover as high as 75 percent
• China's cost advantage is 2:1 over India and 5:1 over the U.S. Given wage inflation in India, that ratio should only continue to grow in China's favor
• Japanese, South Korean and other Asian countries have also begun outsourcing to China – in recognition of the quality of work completed there.
Recognizing the potential advantages of outsourcing from China, Mr. Cestar and Freeborders Co-CEO Ramsey Walker founded the company four years ago. Since that time, it has grown to approximately 400 employees worldwide and is expected to top 1,000 by the end of 2005
About Freeborders
Freeborders is the most advanced provider of software application outsourcing from China. Freeborders management has built the business based on two pillars: that China has a growing cost and expertise advantage over India and that to effectively meet the development needs of Western companies, outsourcing firms must have a significant presence in those countries as well as Asia.
The company is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in New York, North Carolina, Canada, England and China.
"To further improve communication, Risse confers mostly with senior managers at Freeborders , the San Francisco vendor that provides his company with outsourcing services at its development center in Shenzhen. English proficiency is mandatory for mid- and senior-level employees at Freeborders , which registers annual sales of $15 million to $20 million and expects a growth rate of about 100% this year, co-founder John Cestar says."
15 bis 20 Millionen in 2004 sind zwar noch keine große Nummer, aber bei den genannten 100% Wachstum in 2005 sind das schon 30 bis 40 Millionen. Und dass es auch über 2005 hinaus weitergeht, gar keine Frage.
Low costs and high skills tempt businesses to outsource to China
By Paul McDougall with Geoffrey He and Jon Tian
April 11, 2005
Most U.S. companies think India when considering a low-cost destination for offshore IT work. Not Sebastian Risse. The director of product development at business-software vendor CommerceQuest Inc. opted for China, which some believe eventually could become the world's biggest provider of high-tech services. The reason behind Risse's decision? "China is about half the cost of India," he says.
That, combined with a flood of highly skilled programmers graduating annually from Chinese colleges, is moving China to the center of the outsourcing debate. China's income from outsourcing is growing quickly, fed in large part by contracts with Japanese companies, which make up 60% of the country's outsourcing business. But big American companies, including Coach, Motorola, and Target, also have begun sending IT or IT-driven business-process work to China, accounting for about 15% of the country's outsourcing contracts, say officials at Beijing's Municipal Science and Technology Commission. Revenue in China from software and IT services has risen a whopping 42% per year since 1997, reaching $6.8 billion in 2004, according to a recent report by consultants McKinsey & Co.
Yet China poses some challenges and risks for business-technology executives that India doesn't, with the most frequently cited concerns being language and, perhaps more important, intellectual-property risks. "To India, software is the most important thing in the country," says Eric Rongley, the American CEO of China-based outsourcer Bleum Co., who worked in the IT-services industry in India for five years starting in the mid-'90s. Rampant piracy was brought under control quickly there because it threatened the growth of the nascent export industry, he says. It's a different story in China, where pirated software still turns up frequently in markets and on street corners. That's partly because the country's dominance as a manufacturing center means it doesn't need to pin its future solely on IT. China, "in order to really go big in this industry, is going to need to take piracy seriously, take intellectual property seriously," Rongley says.
The cost benefits China offers don't necessarily outweigh business-technology executives' concerns, but the savings are compelling enough that companies are game to try to plan around the obstacles. The monthly salary for programmers in high-tech hot spots like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen is between $600 and $960, according to a survey conducted by InformationWeek China . That's about half the salary paid for a similar position in India and less than a quarter of what prevails in the United States. Rates are even lower in secondary locations. For instance, the average salary for a programmer in Dalian, a coastal city in northern China, is $450 per month.
As interest in China increases, major U.S. computer-services firms, including Affiliated Computer Services, BearingPoint, EDS, and IBM, are setting up shop in the People's Republic. Most big Indian outsourcing companies, including Infosys Technologies, Satyam Computer Services, Tata Consultancy Services, and Wipro Technologies, also are establishing satellite operations in China to serve Asian customers and reduce pressure on their facilities in India. Cognizant Technology Solutions, a New Jersey provider of application-development services that operates primarily from India, last year opened a development center in Shanghai to serve customers throughout Asia and the West. Having operations in China to do basic software coding for clients gives American and Indian IT-services firms a hedge against rising costs in their India-based operations and lets them satisfy IT executives' desire to add geographic diversity to their offshoring plans. "Risk mitigation is becoming increasingly important," Gartner analyst Frances Karamouzis says.
They're also hoping to capitalize on the fact that China's burgeoning economy has led to more U.S. businesses opening offices there, creating a need for on-the-ground support with IT and business-process operations. Satyam, which opened its first Chinese office in Shanghai three years ago, won an IT support-and-implementation contract with supply-chain software vendor Marc Global's newly opened China office because of Satyam's strong roster of local talent. "The Chinese like dealing with the Chinese," says Mark Skipper, president of Marc Global's Asia-Pacific operations.
Motorola has outsourced human-resources management for its China employees to Affiliated Computer Services' Beijing center. "We need to support customers who have activities in China," says Tom Blodgett, Affiliated's managing director for BPO solutions. In January, the service provider revealed plans to open a second operations facility in China to offer finance and accounting BPO services and IT outsourcing. Blodgett ultimately sees China as "a major global production center to serve the West. We're always looking for talented, educated people that are willing to work at the correct wages," he says. EDS hopes to follow suit, through its ExcellerateHRO unit, a joint venture with Towers Perrin.
The Chinese government is following the Indian model to ensure a steady supply of IT talent for both foreign and homegrown IT-services firms: investing in education and quality control. In partnership with U.S. tech firms such as Cisco Systems, IBM, Microsoft, and Sun Microsystems, the government has established 35 national schools to provide software training, especially in technologies such as .Net, Linux, Java, and Web services. The goal is to have 800,000 trained software pros by the end of 2005, versus 600,000 in India. The government also is promoting the use of widely recognized quality-control standards. To date, 11 outsourcing companies with operations in China have attained Capability Maturity Model Level 5, the highest ranking from Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute. Among those, seven are indigenous Chinese companies.
IT officials at organizations that have tapped outsourcing talent in China say the educational efforts are paying off. "I'm very impressed with their skill level," says Jean-Benoit Gauthier, technology director for the International Olympic Committee. Gauthier is using Chinese IT workers through his outsourcing vendor, Atos Origin, under a contract that covers summer and winter games in cities including Beijing in 2008.
Contracting with a service provider that has both the scale required to handle a megaproject like the Olympics and native IT staff in China is essential for Gauthier. Atos Origin is creating a number of key applications for use at the Beijing Olympics. Gauthier acknowledges the possibility of communications and cultural divides that could jeopardize projects outsourced to Chinese IT workers. While India's colonial history seeded English firmly into its culture, most Chinese speak Mandarin or Cantonese. But the International Olympic Committee hasn't had any project delays or misunderstandings. "They're bridging any gaps created by culture," he says.
Those gaps exist, though. "The Chinese may nod their heads, but it doesn't mean they understand what you're saying," says Marc Global's Skipper. Language "will continue to be a huge issue for the next five to 10 years," Gartner's Karamouzis says. Children are now required to take English from the third grade on, so the problem should ease as the next generation enters the workforce. And some companies are getting a jump by pushing an aggressive English-speaking agenda. At Bleum, which provides IT development and support to banks and credit-card and software companies in the States, all staff must speak English two days a week, and soon it's going to be every day of the week, Rongley says.
To compensate for the language barrier, CommerceQuest needed to establish very formal communication processes with workers in China, Risse says. "Early on, there were times when it appeared they hadn't done a lot of work. It turned out they were doing the work but just not communicating it effectively," he says. Documenting requirements actually turned into an advantage, Risse says. "It helps everyone stay on the same page."
To further improve communication, Risse confers mostly with senior managers at Freeborders , the San Francisco vendor that provides his company with outsourcing services at its development center in Shenzhen. English proficiency is mandatory for mid- and senior-level employees at Freeborders , which registers annual sales of $15 million to $20 million and expects a growth rate of about 100% this year, co-founder John Cestar says. Frequent inquiries come from businesses that have seen costs in India rise over the past two years. "A number of Indian companies have had three-year price guarantees and haven't been able to honor them," he claims.
But the scarcity of Chinese IT workers fluent in English skews China's own low-cost advantages. Those workers who are proficient in the language command a higher salary than their counterparts--as much as 10% to 15% more than similarly skilled Indian programmers, Gartner estimates. It's one reason officials at Sierra Atlantic Inc., a Fremont, Calif., company that specializes in offshore software development, passed on China last year as a site to complement its facilities in India. "It's a significant issue," says Marc Hebert, executive VP at Sierra Atlantic.
A more pressing concern for CommerceQuest and others is containing the type of work outsourced to China, given the country's reputation for ignoring infringements on intellectual-property rights. Freeborders mostly performs peripheral work on CommerceQuest's business-process-management applications. Risse says his concerns are such that he most likely wouldn't send development of an entire application to China. "We don't give them every piece of the puzzle," he says.
The problem can be exacerbated when companies contract with Chinese outsourcers that are themselves software-product companies. That's pretty common. For example, both Kingdee International Software Group Co., a leading enterprise-resource-planning soft- ware vendor in China, and Shenyang Neusoft Co., which had outsourcing sales of $35 million last year for BPO and software-development services to Japanese customers, also are software-product companies.
"Anyone who's concerned about [intellectual property] is still going to be concerned of that," Rongley says. Customers are "concerned about their IP turning into the Chinese product one day." Even though Bleum isn't in the product business, Rongley says that employees are subject to background checks and must sign a separate intellectual-property contract in both English and Chinese. In August, the company will be the first in the country to have ISO 17799 certification, an internationally recognized standard for corporate information security, he says.
Not everyone agrees with Rongley's assessment that pure outsourcing companies in China are more likely to offer better intellectual-property protection than hybrids that offer services and sell their own software products. "It cuts both ways," says Ralph Eckardt, an intellectual-property specialist at the Boston Consulting Group. "If a company is developing its own software, it has an interest in promoting intellectual-property protection across the board."
Chinese officials say they're cracking down on piracy and improving the country's reputation as a place to conduct IT work. Some of this is happening at the local level as major cities seek to gain an edge in attracting outsourcing business. Last year, Zhu Xiaoming, deputy director of the Shanghai People's Congress Standing Committee, speaking at Shanghai's Global IT Outsourcing Summit, said his city is working to stamp out software piracy. The Shanghai Municipal Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Commission, which has a standing delegation in the United States to forge ties with Silicon Valley, says it's closely cooperating with the Shanghai Intellectual Property Administration on intellectual-property protection and educating software-outsourcing companies on the issue. But it's "a gradual process," says Feng Cheng, director of science and technology development and the technology trade division at the commission. "The problem will not be solved within one day."
Another problem is that it isn't unusual for a large Chinese software company to have government officials on its board or even be owned by the government. One analyst whose firm does work in China admits that the close government ties are a potential concern. The Chinese government heavily promotes the competitive interests of Chinese companies, the analyst says. It isn't unheard of for the government to provide indigenous companies with confidential information about foreign companies doing business in the country, he says.
Questions also swirl around whether China's IT industry has all the skills companies need. Sierra Atlantic's Hebert notes that, while Chinese programmers tend to be strong in broad-based technologies such as Java and .Net, it's difficult to find individuals with experience working on specific business applications such as PeopleSoft, SAP, or Siebel Systems. "Those skills really don't exist in China," he says. Hebert also believes that, for now at least, Chinese IT workers are generally less productive than Indian workers, a notion that's supported by McKinsey's research. Operating margins at Chinese software-services companies tend to average about 7%, compared with a worldwide average of 11%, McKinsey says.
But a more disciplined approach to IT may improve China's productivity stats. That's being fostered in companies such as Bleum, which is continuing to refine its processes as it plans for CMM Level 5 certification by May. And foreign vendors also are bringing their own expertise in processes to their Chinese operations, helping to raise quality in the country. Cognizant uses its established facilities in India to train new Chinese workers. "We have to transplant not just our knowledge but also our culture," says Francisco D'Souza, Cognizant's chief operating officer.
Ultimately, China's biggest advantage in IT services is simply its size. "It's the next big destination because it's the only one that can rival India in terms of scale," Karamouzis says. A few hundred thousand software engineers graduate from colleges in China every year, versus 30,000 in India.
That, says Freeborders Cestar, will prevent the kind of wage inflation India is experiencing as demand there moves closer to supply.
Overall, CommerceQuest's Risse says he's satisfied with Freeborders work, which represents 5% to 10% of his application-development budget. Satisfied enough that, going forward, China will account for half of any staff additions to CommerceQuest's development team. "They're good at certain areas, and we want to take advantage of that," Risse says. Undoubtedly, so will many more IT execs as China becomes outsourcing's next hot spot.
© Freeborders 2005, All Rights Reserved
IT and Software Application Outsourcing from China
General Presentation
General Brochure
Practice Area Centers of Excellence
Automated Testing & QA
Web Services
Application Specialities
Invista
How Freeborders developed a mission-critical enterprise application for the world's largest textile manufacturer
Leading Media Software Provider
How Freeborders delivered intergrated reporting applications for a leading media software provider
was der Ami da schreibt:
Waiting for the Squeeze!
by: bakerfrick
Long-Term Sentiment: Strong Buy 04/13/05 01:51 pm
Msg: 231349 of 231351
Aber normalerweise saugt sich der kluge Investor vor einem vermuteten ShortSquezze bis zur Halskrause voll, wenn das seine Mittel zulassen und es mit seiner Risikostruktur übereinstimmt.
würde ich zum heutigen Kursverlauf sagen. Der Shortseller, und es handelt sich - da bin ich mir inzwischen ziemlich sicher - im wesentlichen nur um einen - hat sich heute weiter tiefer die Scheisse geritten. Die Zahl der geshorteten Aktien dürfte meinen Schätzungen nach in der Nähe von vier Millionen liegen. Wie bekommt man diese vier Millionen, die man leer verkauft hat, herbei? Ganz einfach, das wird sehr schwierig. Wir haben es heute wieder einmal erlebt. Momentan versucht der Shortseller noch zu bluffen und den Kurs nach unten zu schaukeln. Um seine Stärke zu demonstrieren, die er sicherlich hat (sonst könnte er sich das riesige Verlustrisiko nicht leisten), will er vermutlich insbesondere den Daytradern zeigen, dass er den Kurs beliebig einstellen kann, z.B. ihn in 0,12er-Schritten nach unten bewegen kann, wenn er genügend leer verkauft. Allerdings brauchte er dazu heute schon 700.000 Aktien - in den Tagen vorher ging das mit wesentlich weniger.
Daher muss man momentan eigentlich nur kaufen und warten bis das Ding explodiert - eine also ziemlich einfache Strategie.
wiesen im letzten Quartal die beiden Gesellschaften unter den insgesamt 20 Beteiligungen von Internet Capital aus, die in den Rechnungsabschluss von Internet Capital einbezogen sind: CommerceQuest, wo Internet Capital 87% hält, und ICGCommerce, wo Internet Capital 76%. Leider werden die Zahlen nur für beide Beteiligungen gemeinsam ausgewiesen. Bemerkenswert ist, dass innerhalb von nur drei Monaten die Erlöse um 3 Millionen von 12 auf 15 Millionen pro Quartal stiegen. Und noch mehr als um drei Millionen verbesserte sich das Ergebnis, aus einem Verlust wurde ein Quartalsgewinn von 1,5 Millionen.
Three months ended December 31,(in thousands)
Consolidated
2004
Revenue $15,003
EBITDA * 2,184
Net income/(loss) 1,459
Würde beispielsweise die zuletzt gesehen Steigerungsrate bei den Eröse anhalten, ergäbe sich:
1. Quartal: 18 Millionen
2. Qaurtal: 21 Millionen
3. Quartal 24 Millionen
4. Quartal 27 Millionen
Das wären in der Summe 90 Millionen. Selbst wenn es nur halb so gut mit den Steigerungsraten kommt wie zuletzt im vierten Quartal lägen wir in 2005 immer noch bei 75 Millionen Umsatz.
Würde beispielsweise die zuletzt gesehen Steigerungsrate bei den Gewinnen anhalten, ergäbe sich:
1. Quartal: 4,5 Millionen
2. Qaurtal: 7,5 Millionen
3. Quartal 10,5 Millionen
4. Quartal 13,5 Millionen
Das wären kaum zu glaubende 36 Millionen Gewinn, was mir doch etwas übertrieben erscheint. Selbst wenn wir die Steigerungrate nur halb so hoch annehmen wie zuletzt im vierten Quartal, würden bei 21 Millionen Gewinn landen.
Ein Marktkapitalisierung von 300 Millionen erscheint mir dann als ein angemessener Wert, die etwas mehr als 80% Anteil von Internet Capital wären dann fast ein Viertelmilliarde wert, das entspricht der momentanen Marktkapitalisierung. Dazu kommen noch weitere fast 20 Beteiligungen.
Untermauerung meiner vorhergehenden Ausführungen(Teil 1)
Hier die erste der beiden oben angeführten Beteiligungen:
INCREASING DEMAND FOR PROCUREMENT BUSINESS PROCESS OUTSOURCING AND DIFFERENTIATED OFFERING HELP MARKET SHARE LEADER ICG COMMERCE ACHIEVE STRONG 2004 RESULTS
Procurement-Only Focus, Deep Market Experience, Comprehensive Offering Focused on Operational Improvements And Continuous Value Generation Combine To Drive Over 175% Growth In Services Backlog
PHILADELPHIA - March 9, 2005 - ICG Commerce, a leading procurement services provider, today announced key business results for 2004. The company signed 55 contracts during the year and achieved consistent double-digit quarter-over-quarter growth. The strong momentum is reflective of the company's track record of producing results for leading companies and points to its comprehensive approach to procurement as the most effective model for driving bottom-line savings and process efficiencies.
Among the new contracts signed in 2004 were eight agreements for comprehensive procurement management or outsourcing services, including those with new customers Avaya, Cooper Cameron Corp., Greif, Inc., Universal Packaging Corp., and Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc. In addition, extensions were signed with a number of long-term customers such as Crown, Cork & Seal, Delta Air Lines, Indalex and Nordstrom.
"In 2004 ICG Commerce quantifiably distinguished itself as the leader in procurement-BPO with strong performance in customer acquisition,” said Edward H. West, chairman and CEO of ICG Commerce. “Our differentiated and comprehensive offering combined with external market factors have helped bring the procurement business process to the fore, elevating it from a back office function to a key business performance driver.” West added, “Further to the additions we’ve made on the customer front, we continue to add to our team of experts, most notably through the addition of Michael Zisman, former vice president, corporate strategy at IBM and current ICG Commerce and Internet Capital Group board member."
Due to the number of multi-year customer relationships secured in 2004, the value of ICG Commerce's services backlog (the value of all remaining contracted revenue) grew in excess of 175% throughout the year. Key market factors contributing to the company's growth included continued strong demand for overall cost reduction across industries and an increasing focus on core competencies. "Over the past few years, corporations in the U.S. and Europe began, in earnest, outsourcing major but non-core business processes, such as procurement, finance and accounting and human resource management," said Zisman. "This allows companies to focus on their core-competencies and benefit from the focus, expertise and cost effectiveness of others."
These factors continue to drive procurement-BPO growth as organizations increasingly realize that procurement transformation is an important vehicle for battling pressures on the purchase of indirect and direct materials, which in turn, impact product costs and profit margins.
"Recently, we have seen an increased appreciation at the senior executive level for the power of the procurement function to improve business performance," said Zisman. "Although procurement software alone automates some of the necessary processes, it severely understates the full savings potential of a proactive effort to improve overall procurement operations. The market is beginning to recognize the leadership role outsourcing can play in that process."
Impacting results more directly than external market forces was the company's model, which focuses exclusively on driving results through comprehensive procurement transformation. The ICG Commerce approach marries deep purchasing category expertise; process and operations specialists; and a comprehensive but flexible technology platform to build and execute programs that produce sustainable and measurable savings for customers year after year.
According to research published last year by analyst firm Nelson Hall, ICG Commerce currently leads the procurement-BPO industry in market share. In 2004, the company also earned recognition from both the Outsourcing Center and Forbes magazine as a leader in procurement outsourcing, which many have proclaimed to be the fastest-growing BPO segment.
Continuing to innovate, ICG Commerce made several infrastructure and organizational enhancements over the course of the year, including the unveiling of a Procurement Center of Excellence at the company’s new headquarters outside Philadelphia. Dozens of customers, prospects and industry experts have visited the center over the past six months to learn best practices and gain an inside look at the team managing transactions and purchasing activities on behalf of many of the world’s leading companies.
# # #
About ICG Commerce, Inc.
ICG Commerce (www.icgcommerce.com)is a leading Procurement Services Provider exclusively focused on helping companies buy more effectively and efficiently in order to reduce costs significantly and continuously. The company offers an unmatched combination of process and category expertise and hosted technology to deliver Sourcing, Purchase-to-Pay Automation and Outsourcing Services. ICG Commerce Inc., a privately held company founded in 1992, is a member of Internet Capital Group’s (Nasdaq: ICGE) network of partner companies and has been honored as one of Forbes’ ‘Best of the Web: B2B’, UPSIDE Magazine’s ‘Hot 100’ and as an iSource 100 company.
Untermauerung (Teil 2)
Hier die zweite in den Zahlen meines Ausgangspostings angesprochene Beteiligung von Internet Capital. Man hält hier 87%.
CommerceQuest Closes 2004 with Significant Financial Growth and Begins 2005 with Strong Momentum
Date Posted : 3/21/2005
- TAMPA, FL – March 22, 2005 – CommerceQuest Inc. today announced significant revenue growth in business process management (BPM) software in 2004 and demonstrated its momentum within the BPM industry through the announcement of strategic partnerships and product developments. These results further underscore the increased market recognition for BPM as an important support to process improvement initiatives within leading enterprises.
CommerceQuest customers are realizing the benefits achievable via TRAXIONSM Enterprise Business Process Management Suite (TRAXION EnterpriseBPMS). For example, by rapidly moving a process from the analysis phase to deployment and execution, allowing the process to be continuously improved, managed, and monitored in real time, enterprises are empowered to potentially achieve 30-45 percent greater ROI.
CommerceQuest’s year-over-year revenue growth in license software revenue saw an increase of 62 percent in 2004, which far exceeds growth rate estimates for the BPM marketplace by industry analysts. Additionally, the company improved its revenue mix in 2004 with license software at 60 percent and services at 40 percent.
“We are extremely pleased with the progress we have made within the market over the past year,” said CommerceQuest CEO Michael Forster. “The growth that we’ve achieved is strong evidence that our TRAXION EnterpriseBPMS is delivering significant value. In 2005, we will continue to help both new and existing customers achieve their business objectives through improved process efficiency and flexibility.”
CommerceQuest announced several strategic partnerships in 2004, including a new relationship with IBM to resell Process Manager for Data (PM4Data) to enhance IBM’s On Demand strategy. This joint enterprise integration platform has already illustrated benefits to customers, such as Charming Shoppes, Inc. and Standard Chartered Bank, who wanted to manage the movement of data across multi-platform environments, as well as gain visibility into disparate systems throughout the enterprise.
CommerceQuest extended its ecosystem of partners with new Value Add Solution Partners (VASP) and Technology Partner relationships. The Normandy Group, a Cognos Pinnacle partner, joined the VASP program capitalizing on the synergy between corporate performance management and business process management. In addition, a Technology Partnership was established with Mercury Interactive Corporation.
New partnerships with Mindjet and iGrafx were also announced in 2004. These relationships enable companies to complete the entire business process lifecycle with combined analysis, mapping, and execution capabilities via CommerceQuest’s Universal Process Engine. By using analysis, simulation and mapping tools, enterprises typically notice a 20-33 percent improvement in cycle time and throughput; however, executing and integrating processes with the Universal Process Engine from CommerceQuest can attain an additional 25-30 percent improvement.
Globally, CommerceQuest continued to build strategic partnerships throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Trinity Expert Systems and Devoteam are two leading solution-oriented companies aligning with CommerceQuest to provide marketplace differentiation for continued growth in a highly competitive environment, as well as to enable customer success through Enterprise BPM.
Another significant company milestone in 2004 was the announcement of TRAXION EnterpriseBPMS 8.1. This product enhancement featured new capabilities within the Business Innovation Xcelerator and Business Integration Xcelerator. By combining process modeling, workflow, simulation, integration, and extensive activity monitoring and management technologies, TRAXION EnterpriseBPMS enables companies to increase value and productivity, which benefit its bottom line.
About CommerceQuest (www.commercequest.com)
Founded in 1991, CommerceQuest is the only enterprise solutions provider that enables its customers to rapidly turn business strategy into business processes by fully integrating the work that people do with software systems that optimize business performance. CommerceQuest delivers a complete set of scalable business process management (BPM) solutions that leverage existing IT investments to unite people, processes and technology in a service-based architecture that spans the extended enterprise, from the mainframe to the Internet and everything in between. More than 500 industry-leading companies rely on CommerceQuest to help them integrate heterogeneous workflow and IT systems, including many of the Fortune 500 companies such as The Home Depot, Coca-Cola Bottling, Ahold, and American Express.
CommerceQuest is a privately-held company and a member of Internet Capital Group's (Nasdaq: ICGE) collaborative network of Partner Companies
Problemlos erkennt man, dass allein diese beiden Beteiligungen, wo Internet Capital 76 bei ICGCommerce und 87% bei CommerceQuest hält, von insgesamt 20 Beteiligungen einen Wert darstellen, der in die Nähe der momentanen gesamten Marktkapitalisierung von Internet Capital in Höhe von 230 Millionen kommen kann.
Es ist logisch, dass man seine Kursziele verändern muss, wenn Fremdkapital durch Eigenkapital ersetzt werden - insbesondere wenn das so massiv wie bei Internet Capital geschah. Ehe man losplärrt, genügt es da vielleicht in eine Suchmaschine einmal das Wort "Leverage Effekt" einzugeben. Man könnte dann dort lesen, dass man mit einer Erhöhung des Verschuldungsgrades die Rendite des eingesetzten Kapitals erhöhen kann - allerdings dadurch sein Risiko vergrößert. Umgekehr senkt eine Reduzierung des Verschuldungsgrades die Rendite, aber logischerweise auch das Risiko.
Genau das letztere ist vor ca. einem Jahr bei Internet Capital passiert, man hat die im Verhältnis zum Geschäftsumgang nicht unerheblichen, meiner Ansicht allerdings doch beherrschbaren Schulden, völlig beseitigt (unter Berücksichtigung des Kassenbestandes). Dies hat man durch eine Verzweieinhalbfachung der Aktienzahl erkauft. Dadurch haben sich die Vervielfachungschancen, die ich früher mit dem Faktor 10 bezifferte, auf ca. 4 reduziert - da bekanntlich die Division von 10 durch 2,5 die Zahl 4 ergibt. Das war die schlechte Nachricht. Die gute Nachricht ist, dass durch diese Operation das Risiko dramatisch gesunken ist.
Wegen dieser von mir geschilderten Entwicklung, sind ja auch viele Käufer mit hohem Risikoprofil aus der Aktie raus. Das ist momentan das Problem der Aktie, denn die Anleger mit dem zu Internet Capital passenden Risikoprofil sind noch nicht in genügendem Ausmaß in der Aktie drin. Die veränderte Ertrags-Risiko-Struktur ist bisher nur bei den Institutionals angekommen, die ja nach der Ersetzung von Fremdkapital durch Eigenkapital ihren Aktienanteil von 2% um das über Zwanzigfache auf 45% gesteigert haben. Auch bei den Fonds sitzen eigentlich Fachleute ähnlicher Qualtiät wie bei den Institutionals, aber sie haben ein Problem, sie müssen die Papiere im Fonds den Privatanleger offenlegen - und die halten Internet Capital für etwas Unanständiges, wie das ja viele auch hier tun, die sich nicht näher mit dem Wert beschäftigen - folglich bleiben die Fondsmanager mit Rücksicht auf ihre Kunden fern. Und bei den Privatanlegern haftet dem Papier halt auch noch der Ruf des Unseriösen an. Dass diese emotionalen Sperren so lange bestehen geblieben sind, habe ich auch nicht vermutet - dass sie allerdings irgendwann verschwinden, bin ich mir auch sicher, denn auf Emotionen bauende Anlageentscheidungen dauern nicht ewig, auch wenn dem einen oder anderen bestimmte Zeiträume ewig vorkommen.
Dass wir heute bei 5,85 landen, war mir ziemlich klar. Nun werden einige fragen, warum ich trotzdem zum Kaufen aufgefordert habe. Nun, das ist ziemlich einfach, Kaufen zum niedrigsten Kurs und Verkaufen zum höchsten Kurs schaffen bekanntlich nur wenige, mit einigen Ausnahmen, die sich ja auch auf diesem Threat schon zu Wort gemeldet haben - und ich gehe davon aus, dass Ihr Ihnen aufs Wort geglaubt habt, denn das sind ja durchunddurch ehrenwerte und anständige Menschen, wie ihre Anhänger auch bezeugen können.
Warum ich wusste, dass wir heute bei 5,85 landen? Wer die Kursentwicklung und die Umsatzzahlen verfolgt und die Orderstellung auf Island, kann relativ leicht erkennen, dass hier eine Hedge seinem Broker den Auftrag gegeben hat, den Kurs pro Tag um 0,15 zu senken, koste es, was es wolle. Gestern musste er schon 500.000 Aktien in den Ring werfen, um das zu erreichen (300.000 mehr als in der letzten Zeit), heute waren es schon 700.000 Aktien. Das kann zwar noch einige Zeit so gehen, aber irgendwann werden dann alle Aktien leer verkauft sein. Eventuell kann man dann auch noch Leerverkaufspyramiden bauen - im Rahmen des Nackten Shortens geht das durchaus.
Der Rest ist Kleist: Die Geschichte vom zerbrochenen Krug, die auch der stärktste Hedge-Fund der Welt nicht verhindern kann. Wenn nämlich die Anleger merken, dass die Beteiligungen pro Aktie tatsächlich z.B. 20 Dollar wert sind, fällt das Kartenhaus, das immer kunstvoller aufgeschichtet wird, um.
Wie geht es weiter? Sicher eine gute Frage. Bei den beiden konsolidierten Beteiligungen, ICGCommerce und Commercequest, hatte ich weiter oben schon angeführt, dass ich hier auch im ersten Quartal mit steigenden Erlösen rechne, was die beiden Unternehmen ja auch angedeutet haben (siehe das zweite und dritte Posting dieses Threats). Bei der Gruppe der restlichen acht Beteiligungen, von denen wir leider nur zusammen Zahlen erhalten, würde ich es als Erfolg ansehen, wenn der Umsatz von 43,5 im vierten Quartal gehalten werden könnte. In den vergangenen Jahren ist er nämlich im ersten Quartal immer etwas zurückgegangen. Das hängt im wesentlichen mit Linkshare zusammen, die sehr stark vom Onlinegeschäft in letzten drei Monaten profitieren. Allerdings soll der Januar diesmal im Online-Handel sehr stark gewesen sein - trotzdem dürfte von Linkshare ein kleines Minus ausgehen, auch wenn die Kundengewinne überragend waren, wenn ihr nachstehende Adresse (die jetzt auch schon April-Neuzugänge enthalt) anklickt. Aber das Hauptgeschäft kommt hier halt von den Altkunden.
http://www.linkshare.com/ rc/nma-main.shtml
Erstmal gab es allerdings von Internet Capital, was der erste Quartal anbetrifft, kein Hinweis darauf, dass das erste Quartal bei den Erlösen schwächer ausfallen werde, wie das in den Vorjahren bei der Bekanntgabe der Ergebnisse für das vierte Quartal regelmäßig geschah. Dies hängt sicher damit zusammen, dass die beiden konsolidierten Beteilígung CommerceQuest und ICGCommerce stark wachsen, die in den Vorjahren stagnierten, und auch die restlichen Beteiliungen bei den acht Beteiligungen, die neben Linkshare für Quartalserlöse von 43,5 Millionen zuständig sind, an Bedeutung gewinnen und so die Saisondelle bei Linkshare ausgleichen können.
Top Ten Online Shopping Stores for Holiday Gift Shopping Online Announced at Start of Holiday Shopping Season
Wal-Mart tops the list of Most Popular Online Shopping Sites on Black Friday
(PRWEB) December 3, 2004 –- Online shopping is becoming the preferred way for parents to buy holiday gifts. According to ComScore Networks, consumers this year spent $133 million online Thanksgiving Day, an increase of 100% compared with the $67 million spent during the same time in 2003, the research firm said. Americans spent $250 million online on Black Friday, up 41% compared with $178 million in 2003.
BabyLounge.com online shopping data exceeds the national averages of growth for online shopping, based on the transactions by parents shopping online for holiday gifts in late November 2003 versus the same period in 2004.
Shopping for holiday gifts is a challenge to parents, especially those with infants and toddlers. The mall parking lots are crowded, strollers cannot navigate through many of the narrow store aisles, and it’s tricky to buy gifts for the kids when they’re with you. For these reasons, and plenty more, parents are shifting their buying habits from the local mall to online malls, such as the BabyLounge Shopping Mall – http://shopping.babyloung e.com
Online shopping is gaining in popularity because it can be done from the comfort of your home; all of your favorite stores are there, such as Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Toys R Us; the holiday gifts are shipped to your front door (often the shipping is free); and in many cases, there are better deals online when online shoppers utilize coupon codes.
To help this year’s online holiday shoppers, the BabyLounge Shopping Mall, an online mall featuring free online coupons and deals for over 700 online stores, announced today their top ten online shopping stores for holiday gift shopping online, based on the purchasing habits of online shoppers over Thanksgiving and “Black Friday.” The top ten online shopping stores list was topped by Wal-Mart.
“Moms and dads are shifting their buying habits to online shopping in droves. During the week, between naps, feedings, play dates, and school, it’s just too much of a project to get all of the kids and hit the mall for many parents,” says Vicky Collins, Chief Mom Officer, at the BabyLounge Shopping Mall, http://shopping.babyloung e.com . “With our fingers on the pulse of what’s hot and what’s not, we’re providing the list of the top ten online shopping stores to help parents navigate the maze of online shopping and find the best online coupons and deals. We hope it provides moms and dads with some needed simplicity during the crazy holiday season."
The top ten online shopping stores, as reported by the BabyLounge Shopping Mall (visit http://shopping.babyloung e.com for the current free online coupons and deals):
1. Wal-Mart
2. Best Buy
3. Amazon
4. eBay
5. Sears
6. Target
7. Toys R Us
8. Home Depot
9. Overstock
10. JC Penney
“The good news for online holiday shoppers is that with the continued growth of online shopping combined with an expected flurry of coupon and free shipping deals, the top ten online shopping stores make holiday shopping more easy and affordable,” adds Collins.
About BabyLounge.com
BabyLounge.com has been a leading source of parenting resources and free online coupons and deals for over 5 years. BabyLounge.com was started by Shawn and Vicky Collins after the birth of their first daughter, Caitlin, as a means to help with the household expenses, since Vicky had become a stay at home mom. Now Caitlin has two little sisters, and BabyLounge.com has grown up with them to become a notable player in the online shopping space. The BabyLounge Shopping Mall is powered by 77Blue - http://www.77blue.com/
http://www.linkshare.com/clients/index.shtml
http://www.linkshare.com/rc/DD_cp_041105.shtml
Eine zweite Untergrenze ist dadurch gegeben, dass eigentlich Internet Capital schon mit Rückkäufen von Aktien begonnen haben müsste. Denn die haben für das Geschäft einer Holding völlig überflüssigen 130 Millionen Cash und marktgängige Wertpapiere. Damit könnte sie rein theoretisch zwei Drittel der Aktien zurückkaufen. Das wäre absolut vernünftig, wenn auch nicht in großem Umfang, denn sonst würden die Kurse logischerweise nach oben springen und man bekäme nicht mehr viele günstig - aber so 30 Millionen Cash von den 130 Millionen wären schon sinnvoll - dafür bekäme man gegenwärtig 5 Millionen Aktien, was die Zahl der umlaufenden Aktien von 38 auf 33 Millionen reduzieren würde. Ich habe das auch heute in einem Mail an Internet Capital gefordert. Wer das auch tun will, sollte das an die folgende Adresse posten:
www.ir@internetcapital.com
Das machen die zwar nicht, denn die wollen das Geld vermutlich in die Beteiligungen investieren. Dadurch wächst zwar das Unternehmen besser, aber die Investitionen müssten schon verdammt gut sein, wenn sie eine noch bessere Alternative sein sollten als ein Aktienrückkauf zum momentanen Zeitpunkt, der für den Shareholder Value besser wäre.
Noch einmal zu Deiner Ausgangsfrage: Wenn der Hedge Funds, der gegen Internet Capital shortet sehr kapitalkräftig ist und die Geschäftsleitung ihren Angestellten noch etwas spekulieren lässt können wir auch bei fünf Dollar landen. Ich vermute einmal, dass die aber nicht lassen - und auch andere Instititutionals nicht, die dem Shortseller die Aktien abkaufen. Ich käme dann erstmals in dreieinhalb Jahren in Versuchung. Bisher habe ich meine Basisinvestments unverändert gelassen und nichts in Internet Capital umgeschichtet, aber dann ........ ich weiss nicht.
Wollte auch mal Danke sagen für Deine Postings hier und an anderer Stelle.
Der IPO dieser Unternehmens verlief - auch bedingt durch die Prügel, die Techs momentan bekommen - nicht ganz so, wie man sich das erhofft hatte, denn es notiert leicht unter dem Ausgabekurs. Erhofft hatte man sich eher eine Enwicklung wie bei Google. So haben wir momentan bei Fastclick nur eine Marktkapitalisierung von etwas über 200 Millionen. Meines Erachtens kann sich dieser Betrag problemlos verdoppeln, aber die sind nun einmal mit dem IPO mitten in die Flaute hineingelaufen. Würde man jetzt die Fundamentals von Fastclick auch als Maßstab für Linkshare heranziehen und den Wert von 200 Millionen hochrechnen, käme bei Linkshare nur ein Wert von 300 Millionen heraus und die 40% Anteil von Internet Capital wären "nur" 120 Millionen wert. Aber selbst wenn das richtig wäre, wäre dann die momentane Marktkaptitalisierung des unter Berücksichtigung des Kassenbestandes schuldenfreien Unternehmens Internet Capital absurd. Denn diese 120 Millionen würden zusammen mit den Aktien von Blackboard, die man hält und 50 Millionen am Freitag wert waren, schon 170 Millionen der momentanen Marktkapitalisierung von 220 Millionen ausmachen. Die restlichen ca. 20 Beteiligungen würden zusammen dann nur 50 Millionen an Wert ausmachen, obwohl viele von ihnen einzeln diesen Wert übersteigen, z.B. die Beteiligungen: ICGCommerce, CommerceQuest, GoIndustry, Freeborders und andere sicher auch noch.
Nun ist, wie oben schon angeführt, einerseits Fastclick unterbewertet, andererseits sind aber auch die Geschäftsmodelle nicht vergleichbar. Denn das Geschäftsmodell von Linkshare ist sehr viel betändiger und auf Dauer angelegt. Während Fastclick 50% seiner Umsätze mit den zehn größten Kunden macht, hat Linkshare eine sehr breite Kundenbasis. Auch die nachstehende ausführlichere Liste ist nur ein Auszug:
http://www.linkshare.com/clients/extended.shtml
Und Linkshare ist nach und nach solide aufgebaut worden, schwimmt in Cash, da man seit vier Jahren Gewinne anhäuft. Fastclick ist dagegen ein Unternehmen, das Werbung verkauft und überwiegend aus dem Erdbeben gestampft wurde und dann ganz schnell an die Börse gebracht wurde. Die Geschichte von Linkshare ist sehr viel länger und solider, wie z.B. die beiden Auszeichnungen aus der Vergangenheit zeigen.
LinkShare Corporation Named New York's #1 Fastest Growing Technology Company in Deloitte & Touche "Fast 50" Program for Second Consecutive Year
New York, NY - September 26, 2003- For the second consecutive year, LinkShare Corporation, the leader in performance-based marketing, has been awarded the highest ranking in Deloitte & Touche's prestigious Technology Fast 50 program for the New York area, a list of the top 50 fastest growing technology companies in the region by Deloitte & Touche LLP, one of the nation's leading professional services firms. LinkShare is the only company in the program's history to have received the highest ranking for 2 consecutive years.
"
LinkShare is the leader in performance-based marketing, providing an online marketplace where businesses can build pay-for-performance relationships that minimize customer acquisition costs, and maximize the revenue-generating potential of their websites. By participating in LinkShare's affiliate marketing networks, online businesses desiring additional sales, registrations, leads, or other activity are able to forge alliances with hundreds of thousands of affiliate sales partners seeking to monetize their traffic. In addition, LinkShare is launching a new suite of services aimed at helping companies manage their affiliate marketing programs more efficiently and increase revenue through targeted search marketing. The 26,268 percent growth and resulting ranking are evidence of how LinkShare's business solutions have successfully delivered value to its customers, even in a challenging market environment.
Deloitte & Touche announced the rankings at the awards dinner for the winners on Thursday, September 25, 2003, at the Ritz-Carlton New York, Battery Park. Rankings are based on the percentage of growth in fiscal year revenues over five years, from 1998-2002. LinkShare's increase in revenues of 26,268 percent from 1998 to 2002 resulted in first place ranking overall in the Fast 50 for New York. The average increase in revenues among companies who made the Fast 50 for this region was 1,312 percent.
To qualify for the Technology Fast 50, companies must have had operating revenues of at least $50,000 in 1998 and $1,000,000 in 2002, must be public or private companies headquartered in North America, and be a "technology company" defined as owning proprietary technology that contributes to a significant portion of the company's operating revenues (using other companies' technology in a unique way does not qualify); and/or devoting a significant proportion of revenues to research and development of technology.
LinkShare Corporation Named New York's Fastest Growing Technology Company in Deloitte & Touche "Fast 50" Program
LinkShare Reports Revenue Growth of over 32,185% from 1997 to 2001
New York, NY - October 11, 2002 - LinkShare Corporation, a leader in performance-based marketing, has been named to Deloitte & Touche's prestigious "2002 Technology Fast 50" program for the New York City, Westchester and Rockland Counties region. LinkShare's first place ranking, based on the Company's 32,185% revenue growth from 1997 to 2001, was announced at an awards dinner last night, Thursday, October 10, 2002, at the Ritz-Carlton New York, Battery Park. LinkShare leads an esteemed group of companies on this year's list that span various industries, from telecommunications and semiconductors to biotech and pharmaceutical.
Ab 2003 hat man dann an diesem Wettbewerb nicht mehr teilgenommen, weil, so die Begründung der Unternehmenleitung, die Konkurrenz Rückschlüsse auf die Umsätze ziehen könne. Ich schätze die Umsätze in 2005 in etwa auf 100 Millionen, das kann man sehr gut aus den Zahlen von Tradedoubler aus meinem vorherigen Posting ableiten. Die Gewinne müssten sehr hoch sein, da man bereits vor vier Jahren bei ca. 25 Millionen Erlösen in die Gewinnzone gekommen ist und die zusätzlichen Erlöse sehr viel höher sind als die zusätzlichen Kosten, das Phänomen der gegen Null tendierenden Grenzkosten - ein bei vielen Web-Firmen zu beobachtende Erscheinung, deren hebelnde Wirkung auf die Gewinne von den Nichtbetriebswirtschaftlern unter den Analysten gar nicht erfasst werden kann.
Um aber noch einmal zu Deiner Frage von gestern zurückzukommen, ich sehe schon eine Grenze für den Shrotseller durch die Fundamentals, also den Wert der Beteiligungen. Man kann halt nun einmal in den Quartalsberichten ablesen, dass die zehn Kernbeteiligungen (ohne Blackboard) fast 60 Millionen Umsatz pro Quartal haben, dass die zwei konsolidierten Beteiligungen ICGCommerce und CommerceQuest erstmals echte Gewinne gemacht haben, dass man Anteile an Blackboard hält, die einen Wert von 50 Millionen haben, dass statt negativen Eigenkapital wie bis vor einem Jahr das jetzt ein derstelliger positiver Millionenbetrag vorhanden ist uvm. Der jetzige Kurs könnte daher nur richtig sein, wenn die bei Internet Capital die Bilanzen gefälscht hätten - was man ausschließen kann, denn der CEO und CFO müssen inzwischen aufgrund von Sarbanes-Oxley die Richtigkeit beeiden, sonst kommen sie in den Knast. Zudem wird kaum ein Unternehmen so mit Röntgenaugen beobachet wie diese abgestürzte New Economy-Ikone - nur aus diesem Ruf kann allerdings auch der Erfolg der Shortseller abgeleitet werden. Aber derartige Spekulation, die nur auf Emotionen aufbauen und diametral zu Fundamentals erfolgen, haben meines Erachtens keinerlei Erfolgschancen.
der wohl für den Wert von Internet Capital wichtigsten Beteiligung. Dazu hatte ich ja ausgeführt, dass nach Untersuchungen von Forrester jeder siebte Online-Umsatz-Dollar durch Affiliate Marketing generiert wird. Und die neuesten Studien belegen trotz der imm wieder in 2004 aufgekommenen Zweifel:
Weiter aufwärts beim Affiliate Marketing, wie folgende Studie zeigt:
Sherpa Study: Affiliate Merchants Optimistic, Unsophisticated Trackers
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Revenews reports that MarketingSherpa released a large research report on the state of affiliate marketing. It found that despite a panoply of industry kicking trends - such as fights with "cookie stuffers," Can-Spam issues, threats to paid search arbitrage - affiliate marketers remain upbeat and expect increased revenues in 2005. 10 out of 11 merchants surveyed say they will continue to do better, and 9 out of 11 affiliates say the same. On the downside, merchants showed they currently plan to continue their extremely unsophisticated levels of tracking, which will prevent them from figuring out which affiliates are the bad eggs, even if those issues listed above become problems. This may lead to merchants painting all affiliates with one big, broad brush.
"91% merchants and 82% of affiliates expect growth", eine Aussage aus dem vorstehenden Artikel, hier etwas ausführlicher - ganz komplett kann man sich den für fünf Dollar runterladen. Für den Wert von Internet Capital ist das von großer Bedeutung, denn der Wert der wertvollsten Beteiligung Linkshare hat großen Einfluss auf den Kurs. Denn ob man Linksahre mit 300 Millionen bewertet (obwohl beim jetzigen Kursniveau vielleicht 150 Millionen angesetzt werden) mit 500 Millionen oder gar mit 1.000 Millionen, ist schon sehr wichtig. Ich neige zu einem Wert irgendwo zwischen 500 und 1.000 Millionen, exakt weiß ich es auch nicht. Die Umsätze in 2005 dürften an 100 Millionen heranreichen, die Gewinnsituation exzellent sein, denn man ist schon seit vier Jahren und einem Umsatz zwischen 20 und 30 Millionen in der Gewinnzone. Welches Umsatzmultiple ist aber richtig? Mit Sicherheit nicht 1,5, wie es momentan im Kurs von Internet Capital enthalten sein dürfte. Ist es 5 oder 8,10 oder mehr? Da kamen im Laufe von 2004 gewisse Zweifel, die für ein Multiple unter 10 sprachen, weil man um die Dynamik des Wachstums etwas fürchtete - sogar die Leute der Fachzeitschrift, wie sie im Artikel zugaben. Auch sie sind überrascht, dass an diesen Befürchtungen nichts dran zu sein scheint:
Special Report: Affiliate Marketing 2005 -- Do Merchants & Affiliates Have Unrealistic Expectations? 12/14/2004
Click here to get this entire Article for just $5
SUMMARY: 750 online merchants and 480 affiliates just took our questionnaire, and here are the results we promised you.
Turns out merchants and affiliates are resoundingly positive about growth for 2005. Which is, frankly, a bit weird. Find out why.
Includes a results data charts, four tactics to improve your results, and seven useful resource links:
ARTICLE:
MarketingSherpa's December affiliate marketing survey results are in -- and the results are stunningly different from our expectations.
2004 has been a particularly tough year with merchants' fears of cookie stuffing and dishonest adware/spyware, CAN-SPAM legalities, and paid search arbitrage.
Many experts, including us, worried these factors would drive the estimated $1.5 billion affiliate marketing industry into a decline.
Guess what? According to our survey results, affiliate marketing is alive and well. Overall 91% of surveyed merchants and 82% of affiliates expect revenue growth in 2005.
Da macht uns aber der CEO der wertvollsten Internet Capital-Beteiligung, Linkshare, enorme Hoffnungen. Wir sind auch schon zufrieden, wenn es halb so gut kommt - oder gar nur 10% eintreffen. Denn 10% von Google wären eine Marktkapitalisierung von Linkshare von 5 Milliarden. Auch das klingt so vermessen, dass wir das erst einmal nicht glauben wollen, mit einem Wert zwischen 500 MIllionen und einer Milliarde sind wir vorerst auch zufrieden. Allerdings nicht mit der Heulnummer der Märkte momentan, die von einem Wert von vielleicht 150 Millionen ausgehen, das vermutliche Eineinalbfache der Umsätze eines Unternehmens mit extrem hoher Wertschöpfungsquote und extrem hohen Gewinnanteilen vom Umsatz.
Cnet Japan
"LinkShare continue to transform the infrastructure" by LinkShare U.S. CEO Stephen Messer
Yuki Kai, staff writer
March 1, 2005
Click here and here for this story as it appeared in Japanese
LinkShare Japan held a symposium March 1 commemorating the founding of the company, at which LinkShare U.S. CEO Stephen Messer gave a keynote address titled "Innovative Marketing".
"We hear that the trend in Japan is one year behind that in the United States, but I get the sense that that gap has already been filled," Messer said of the Japanese affiliate market. In addition to the sudden prevalence of broadband, cell phones are also in widespread use, he noted, predicting that "in about a year and a half, Japan might overtake the United States."
"A mindset of constant change is essential"
LinkShare CEO Stephen Messer
According to Messer, changes in customer attitudes have taken place since LinkShare was founded in 1996. "Online users are not satisfied with a single site," he said. "They only arrive at a purchasing decision after comparing numerous sites." Affiliates are a crucial element in the effort to differentiate EC sites that sell the same products at the same prices with largely the same convenience, he added.
"When television became available, it was thought that success could be achieved simply by broadcasting theater performances. But in fact, no one wanted to watch theater on TV," Messer noted. "People come up with new ideas over time. When TV first came out, nobody had imagined anything like the Ed Sullivan Show. Did anyone foresee the popularity of shows like "Survivor," which feature ordinary people? You have to maintain an awareness that change occurs constantly."
In the world of the Internet, too, "even major companies that were successful in the beginning but neglected to innovate or evolve no longer have an important position in the marketplace," he said, stressing the need for change. "Broadband transforms work and daily life. And since consumers are changing in major ways, EC sites will have to evolve in keeping with those changes."
Infrastructure innovations continue with the focus tightened on added value.
"It's there when you need it, and that makes it well suited to the rhythm of life throughout the day," Messer said of the advantages of the Internet. He noted that broadband Internet users use the Internet 17.3 hours per month, adding that "there's been a major change from the age when people were happy with the information given to them to an era in which people seek out their own information."
Messer said that the leading players in his company's affiliate marketing business is not LinkShare, but the affiliates themselves. "I don't think that we have all the ideas," he said. "Affiliates are just platforms, and we will provide this simple means to the people with the ideas. LinkShare will keep the focus narrowed to added value as we continue to transform the infrastructure," he said, stressing his company's role as a platform provider.
To demonstrate LinkShare's continuous effort to provide transformative new services and functions, Messer noted the examples of XML compatibility, Web services, the InStore card that can be used at physical retail outlets, and data analysis function. He said that the latter is to be introduced in Japan in the coming days. "Data is so abundant that it can't be made thorough use of. Providing a simple interface making it possible to analyze meaningful data should make it possible to make deliberate decisions that take more data into account."
Sensing the intimate relationship between affiliates and search functions, the company also began offering the LinkShare Search Advantage search service. "There are cases in which the user can't search using the keyword that is actually desired," he said. "We intend to optimize search programs to affiliate sites using a common data set."
Messer also brought up the example of Google, noting that they are a competitor. "Google built the world's top brand in three years, and they did it without brand investment. Their website is simple, too. In the world of the Internet, it is possible to become a major player without major investment," he said, adding that "there'll probably be another Google-like presence on the Internet within two to three years."
When television first appeared, broadcasts of theater and radio footage were the mainstream. Now, programming featuring ordinary people is the most popular.
New capabilities offered by LinkShare Data analysis to start in Japan in a few days
unter der Regie der Internet Capital-Beteiligung Linkshare, eine neue Mobilfunk-Killer-Applikat ion und in den USA im Anmarsch:
"One of the more interesting e-commerce applications uses the handset's digital camera and 2D barcode technology. KDDI recently launched a shopping service using this technology that radically increases its role in transaction processing. After incurring significant expenses to build its au wireless customer base, KDDI sought to recoup its investment by adopting an advertising model, charging advertisers for the right to put their products in front of customers. Again, think back to AOL cutting deals with advertisers to allow them access to its customers.
To manage this, KDDI partnered with top affiliate marketing service provider LinkShare. KDDI is now a LinkShare affiliate, and all advertisers that want to participate must become LinkShare merchants.
For example, a KDDI customer sees a print ad for an iPod in a magazine and decides to buy it. The print ad includes a 2D barcode in the lower-right corner provided to the advertiser by KDDI. The barcode contains all the relevant information—the advertiser, the price, the commission KDDI charges, transaction fees, etc. The customer snaps a picture of the barcode, LinkShare's technology calls up an image of the product, the user confirms the purchase and it's billed to the user's wireless account. LinkShare's technology calculates the purchase price, the sales commission paid to KDDI and the transaction fee paid to LinkShare."
Und ab 2006 läuft das vorstehende auch in den USA. Die obigen Zeilen stammen aus dem nachstehenden Text.
DM News: 3G Wireless Set to Cover U.S. in '06
By Jane Weber
December 23, 2004
The Veg-O-Matic of wireless phones has taken Japan by storm, and it's headed our way with exciting implications for marketers.
What is 3G wireless? 3G, or third generation, is a technology that enables high-speed, always-on (simultaneous voice and data) wireless connectivity for mobile phone subscribers. The capabilities are so far beyond voice that the term mobile phone has been replaced with the more inclusive mobile handset. The service was introduced to the Japanese market in 2001 by DoCoMo, the largest Japanese telecom, but the handsets were unappealing and the service unreliable.
Massive adoption did not occur until upstart KDDI, Japan's second-largest telecom, leapfrogged DoCoMo by introducing its "au" wireless service in March 2002, along with a new, streamlined handset with a large display and long-lasting battery. KDDI then changed the game by introducing fixed packet pricing—think back to 1996 when AOL introduced flat-rate pricing for dial-up Internet access and you get the picture.
KDDI today boasts 16 million subscribers to the service, or 70 percent of the 3G market in Japan, says Mobile Media Japan.
What's so special about 3G? High-speed connectivity, for one. KDDI recently launched 2.4 megabits per second wide band service, which is comparable in speed to cable and permits the same step-up to rich media content on your handset that high-speed access enables on your PC. The display is as much as 80 percent larger in one dimension than typical U.S. cell phones.
Another key feature is the "always-on" aspect, which lets you receive a call (voice) while you're online (data). The latest 3G handsets have built-in digital cameras with up to 2.0 megapixels of resolution, and if you're wondering how you would ever store pictures that large, the handsets have data folders with as much as 24 megabytes of capacity.
GPS capability is available, turning your display into a map and guiding you to your destination. The ability to download ring tones has been taken to the logical next step—downloading songs, and the latest handsets such as the Casio W21CA let you listen to them on stereo speakers.
Many of these handsets are equipped with infrared devices, similar to a Mobil Speedpass, that let customers buy items from vending machines, for example, and have them billed to their wireless account. Smart card technology also has been introduced to turn handsets into e-wallets, thus replacing credit cards and cash.
One of the more interesting e-commerce applications uses the handset's digital camera and 2D barcode technology. KDDI recently launched a shopping service using this technology that radically increases its role in transaction processing. After incurring significant expenses to build its au wireless customer base, KDDI sought to recoup its investment by adopting an advertising model, charging advertisers for the right to put their products in front of customers. Again, think back to AOL cutting deals with advertisers to allow them access to its customers.
To manage this, KDDI partnered with top affiliate marketing service provider LinkShare. KDDI is now a LinkShare affiliate, and all advertisers that want to participate must become LinkShare merchants.
For example, a KDDI customer sees a print ad for an iPod in a magazine and decides to buy it. The print ad includes a 2D barcode in the lower-right corner provided to the advertiser by KDDI. The barcode contains all the relevant information—the advertiser, the price, the commission KDDI charges, transaction fees, etc. The customer snaps a picture of the barcode, LinkShare's technology calls up an image of the product, the user confirms the purchase and it's billed to the user's wireless account. LinkShare's technology calculates the purchase price, the sales commission paid to KDDI and the transaction fee paid to LinkShare.
3G wireless is far behind in the United States because of the hefty price tag attached to building the infrastructure, $60 billion by some estimates. 3G service is not expected to be widely deployed until the end of 2006. Verizon launched the service in San Diego and Washington, DC, in 2003. Cingular's recent merger with AT&T Wireless will jump-start its foray into 3G. AT&T launched 3G this year in Seattle, Phoenix, Dallas, Detroit, San Diego and San Francisco.
In the United States, cell phones are largely still just phones, but this is changing as users—mostly young people—incorporate cell phones into their daily lives for various types of communication, including text messaging and sharing digital photos. Advertisers are following along, experimenting with how best to use this emerging channel.
Projecting two years hence, when 3G is up and running, it seems clear that it will be a huge opportunity for marketers. The issue of advertising fragmentation becomes less of a challenge when one device consolidates most online activities and is always on. Whoever owns the customers will rule the day.
könnte sich für die Internet Capital-Beteiligung Linkshare auftun, wenn man sich noch einmal die nachstehende Passage aus dem vorstehenden Posting ansieht; hier es ein genaueres Hinsehen sinnvoll:
"One of the more interesting e-commerce applications uses the handset's digital camera and 2D barcode technology. KDDI recently launched a shopping service using this technology that radically increases its role in transaction processing. After incurring significant expenses to build its au wireless customer base, KDDI sought to recoup its investment by adopting an advertising model, charging advertisers for the right to put their products in front of customers. Again, think back to AOL cutting deals with advertisers to allow them access to its customers.
To manage this, KDDI partnered with top affiliate marketing service provider LinkShare. KDDI is now a LinkShare affiliate, and all advertisers that want to participate must become LinkShare merchants.
For example, a KDDI customer sees a print ad for an iPod in a magazine and decides to buy it. The print ad includes a 2D barcode in the lower-right corner provided to the advertiser by KDDI. The barcode contains all the relevant information—the advertiser, the price, the commission KDDI charges, transaction fees, etc. The customer snaps a picture of the barcode, LinkShare's technology calls up an image of the product, the user confirms the purchase and it's billed to the user's wireless account. LinkShare's technology calculates the purchase price, the sales commission paid to KDDI and the transaction fee paid to LinkShare."
Werbeanzeigen in Zeitungen werden also mit einem Code versehen, der von einem Handy mit einer entsprechenden Scan-Funktion gelesen werden kann. Man bekommt das Angebot und das Unternehmen, das hinter der Zeitungsanzeige steht auf das Handy. Führt die Prozedur zu einer Bestellung, erhalten der Handybetreiber und Linkshare, die das organisieren, eine Umsatzbeteiligung. In Japan läuft das schon, allerdings ist dort auch die Zeitung mit der Werbung am Provisionskuchen beteiligt. Die Anzeigengebühr besteht dann aus einem fixen Bestandteil und weiteren variablen Bestandteilen, die LinkshareJapan nach den erfolgten Verkäufen ermittelt. Der Erfolg lässt sich zwar nicht voraussehen, für die Internet Capital-Beteiliung Linkshare könnte sich aber zusätzlich zum schon normalen Affiliate Marketing eine gigantische Einnahmequelle auftun. Und Linkshare scheint mit seinen Technologien dieser Markt total zu beherrschen - zumindest noch momentan, auch wenn dort später andere einzudringen versuchen werden, wenn das sehr lukrativ wird.
Dadurch haben sie sich auch heute weiter in die Scheisse geritten, als dass sie ein Stück herausgekommen sind. Damit ist der erste Tag von 10 Tagen für die Shortseller verstrichen, bis sie ihre Leerverkäufe glattgestellt haben müssen. Denn in zehn Tagen dürfte die Bombe von neuen Rekordzahlen über Leerverkäufe zum 15.4. platzen. Und wer da noch nicht glattgestellt hat, ist arm dran.
Wer bis da noch drin ist, kauft dann allerdings auch wesentlich teurer ein.
Revenue Magazine Tackles Global Issues
Watch This Company Build A Report Print E-Mail
April 12, 2005 10:21am
Market Wire
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, 04/12/05 / MARKET WIRE/ -- Revenue, the only magazine focused on the fast-growing field of performance marketing, in this latest issue focuses on the international affiliate market, covering the major problems and issues, according to Montgomery Media International, a Montgomery Research, Inc. company.
"Performance marketing is gaining momentum internationally; new markets mean new merchants and new affiliates, which creates more opportunities for the entire community. It has been an exciting quarter investigating these new frontiers," said Nick Smith, publisher of the quarterly magazine.
The cover story of the just-released sixth issue explores everything affiliates and managers need to know about international affiliate marketing -- the pitfalls, the benefits and who's competing with whom. Issue 6 also gives tips for making seasonal sites a success all year long; a glimpse into a typical day for affiliate peers; and ten tools that will make affiliate life much easier. In addition, we've got great information on international search, marketing in a global environment and lessons from an affiliate that didn't make it.
In this issue Revenue is supported by over 50 advertisers, including Buy.com, Commission Junction, Findology.com, Geico, Kmart, Lands' End, LinkShare Corporation, Performics Inc., Target Corporation and Wal-mart.
Revenue explores the strategies, technologies, designs and best practices that help affiliates and merchants achieve success in performance marketing, a fast-growing area of e-commerce in which independent Web publishers, usually operating as small businesses, generate commissions by introducing consumers to the sites of larger merchants.
Revenue is available through major book and magazine dealers. It is also sold through subscriptions, including those offered through the magazine's own affiliate marketing program www.revenuetoday.com.
About Montgomery Media International
Montgomery Media International, a division of Montgomery Research, publishes consumer magazines and contract publishing solutions. Find out more about Montgomery Media at www.montgomerymedia.com.
wo Internet Capital einen Anteil von 87% hält kommt auch in folgenden Artikel zum Ausdruck. Commercequest war lange Zeit mit das größte Problemkind von Internet Capital - von 500 Mitarbeiter ging es zurück auf etwas mehr als 100. Die lange nur mäßig steigenden Erlösen von Internet Capital hat in CommerceQuest mit ihre Ursache, denn die Erloszuwächse von Unternehmen wie Linkshare wurden überwiegend von Erlösrückgangen wie bei Commercequest absorbiert. Dies gehört aber seit zwei bis drei Quartalen der Vergangenheit an, bereits im vierten Quartal 2004 hat Commercequest schwarze Zahlen geschrieben und peilt für 2005 ein Erlöswachstum von 40% an. Neben Datenintegrationslösungen ist CommerceQuest inzwischen auch auf dem Bereich des Business Process Management sehr erfolgreich, das durch Sarbanes Oxley und Basel II zu einer Killer-Anwendung geworden ist. Ein Beispiel für die Erfolge von Commerce Quest auf diesem Sektor: "In particular, The Normandy Group will leverage DataMirror software solutions to enhance data warehouse and business intelligence solutions from Cognos, along with business process analysis solutions implemented by CommerceQuest."
Hier der Text, aus dem ich vorstehende Zeilen entnommen habe:
DataMirror Forms Strategic Partnership with The Normandy Group
Watch This Company Build A Report Print E-Mail
April 18, 2005 8:02am
Business Wire
MARKHAM, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 18, 2005--
Partnership with Cognos Pinnacle Partner to Deliver Business Continuity, Data Integration, and Compliance Solutions to Normandy Group Customers
DataMirror(R) (TSXMC)(NASDAQMCX) today announced a partnership with solution provider, The Normandy Group, to offer real-time data integration, business continuity, and regulatory compliance solutions to Normandy Group clients. The partnership will leverage DataMirror's industry-leading software, including iCluster(R), Transformation Server(R) and, LiveAudit(R) to extend The Normandy Group's business intelligence, business process, and enterprise resource planning business practices.
The Normandy Group will serve as a systems integrator partner to offer customized solutions featuring DataMirror software to its existing client base. The Normandy Group will expand its customers' use of information technology with the addition of iCluster, Transformation Server, and LiveAudit for high availability, disaster recovery, real-time data integration, and auditing purposes. In particular, The Normandy Group will leverage DataMirror software solutions to enhance data warehouse and business intelligence solutions from Cognos, along with business process analysis solutions implemented by CommerceQuest.
"With such a strong reputation for delivering solutions that meet specific business needs, DataMirror is excited about the addition of The Normandy Group to our existing partner ecosystem," says Stewart Ritchie, Senior Vice-President, Worldwide Sales, DataMirror. "The addition of DataMirror technology enhances the business intelligence, data warehouse, and business process solutions of existing Normandy Group customers by delivering real-time data integration capabilities that facilitate continuous access to accurate information."
The Normandy Group is a Cognos Pinnacle Partner and was recently named ScanSource Partner of the Year. The consultancy focuses its expertise in the financial services, manufacturing, healthcare, retail, utilities, and telecommunications sectors. DataMirror offers more than ten years of leadership with best-of-breed, real-time integration software solutions.
"We are excited about the partnership with DataMirror and what their industry-leading software provides for our customers," said Charles Burke, CEO, The Normandy Group. "The partnership with DataMirror enhances our ability to provide customers with world-class integrated solutions to achieve their business goals and objectives."
The Normandy Group is a DataMirror Platinum Partner.
About The Normandy Group
The Normandy Group is committed to the success of their clients as a premier provider of innovative business solutions that encompass the people, process, and technology components necessary to create business value. Additionally, it is The Normandy Group's mission to exceed the client's expectations and give them a competitive edge in today's challenging business climate. They support growth and emerging clients with top professionals in business and technology. Protocol (i)(TM) is the company's proprietary framework known as a standard for delivering scalable and secure business solutions.
The Normandy Group's unique approach to performance management, process improvement, and the application of industry best-practices enables their clients to be first to market with leading-edge solutions realizing tremendous competitive advantages. The new pace of business requires a more forward thinking vision, greater agility in the marketplace, and a faster, more nimble response to changing demands. For more information, visit www.thenormandygroup.com.
About DataMirror
DataMirror (NASDAQ: DMCX; TSX: DMC), a leading provider of real-time data integration, protection, audit and java database solutions, improves the integrity and reliability of information across all of the systems that create and store data. DataMirror's flexible and affordable integration solutions allow customers to easily and continuously detect, translate, and communicate all information changes throughout the enterprise. DataMirror helps customers make better decisions by providing access to the continuous, accurate information they need to take timely action and move forward faster.
Over 2,000 companies have gained tangible business benefits from DataMirror software, including Debenhams, FedEx Ground, First American Bank, OshKosh B'Gosh, Priority Health, Tiffany & Co., and Union Pacific Railroad. DataMirror is headquartered in Markham, Canada and has offices around the globe.
Was mich überrascht sind die dort genannten 30% des Betrages den Unternehmen wie Linkshare in Höhe der Provisionen der Affiliates kassieren - ich bin da bisher von niedrigenen Werten ausgegangen.
Investor's Business Daily
Internet & Technology
Sellers Stock Up On Affiliate Web Sites To Boost Marketing
By PETE BARLAS
January 14, 2005
Avon Products (AVP) is famous for using saleswomen to bring its cosmetics into the homes of consumers.
But these days Avon has another way to get inside homes: affiliated Web sites. For the last seven years, Avon has relied on thousands of partner Web sites to promote its online store. Avon pays these affiliates each time a consumer passes from their site and makes a purchase on Avon's Web site.
The approach is another way for the company to say "Avon calling" to customers, says Pattiann McAdams, executive director of e-commerce for Avon.
"Affiliate marketing is our fastest-growing (customer) acquisition, and I'm optimistic that it still has a lot of growth potential," she said. "It's a way for us to get our brand out there and actually get cost-effective (customer) acquisition."
Avon is one of many companies using affiliate marketing programs to push products and reach new customers online. EBay (EBAY) and Apple Computer (AAPL) also are big users of the technique.
And affiliate marketing will continue to grow as more companies decide they want to advertise online, says Stephen Messer, chief executive of LinkShare, a leading online marketing company. LinkShare manages affiliate marketing programs for Avon and others.
"Today, we manage over 11 million relationships between our merchants and Web sites that are in the network," he said. "It makes it easier for their customers to find their products."
Avon's affiliates include such sites as iVillage.com, a Web portal for women, and Ebates Shopping, a rewards site.
EBay is also enthusiastic about its affiliate program. In an earnings conference call last year, eBay executives said affiliate marketing was one of the strongest drivers of consumer traffic to the company's online auction service. But they declined to provide details.
Apple has used affiliate marketing to drum up customers for its iTunes online music service. After launching in April 2003, iTunes served up its 200 millionth song download in December. Apple also declined to discuss its affiliate marketing.
Success in affiliate marketing largely depends on finding the right mix of partner sites. In the music category, recording artist Web sites that attract fans are a good bet to generate music sales, says Messer.
"The key Web sites for iTunes are those sites that have fans, because that's where the buyers would be," he said.
Amazon.com, (AMZN) the world's largest online retailer, eschews TV ads in favor of online advertising — including affiliate marketing.
Amazon wants to reach consumers who are already online, says Frank Sadowski, vice of consumer electronics for Amazon.
"Affiliate marketing is very effective," he said. "Just being pervasive on the Internet and having Amazon.com come up on thousands of sites is very significant."
Like other online retailers, Amazon won't say exactly how many sites are in its affiliate marketing program. It also won't name any of the sites or say how much it spends on affiliate marketing.
"It's a significant portion for us," said Sadowski.
Companies want to protect their marketing secrets. A partner site that attracts customers and boosts sales is like gold, says Jeff Pullen, executive vice president of operations for ValueClick. (VCLK) ValueClick owns Commission Junction, which provides affiliate marketing and other services for 1,500 customers.
"Once you get a productive publisher, you don't want to lose him," said Pullen, who was chief executive of Commission Junction before ValueClick bought the company in December 2003. "If they are sending you new customers and they are helping you generate revenue, the last thing you want to do is post on your Web site which one of your sales people are the best."
In most affiliate marketing programs, advertisers pay their affiliate partners a percentage each time a consumer passes through to buy a product or service.
For example, if a consumer comes through an affiliate site and buys a $100 pair of shoes on a retailer's site, the affiliate partner gets about 10% of the sale.
ValueClick's Commission Junction gets about 30% of that fee, or $3.
The company's revenue from affiliate marketing program rose 37% in the third quarter vs. the year-ago period, Pullen says.
"What that tells us is that we are attracting new customers and existing customers are having success with the program," he said.
Affiliate marketing programs work differently than paid search programs, which require advertisers to pay a search company each time a consumer clicks on their ad listed in search results.
In affiliate marketing, a consumer must not only go to a site but also make a purchase. No cash changes hands unless a consumer completes a transaction, says Pullen.
"If the customer doesn't buy something — or fill out an application or become a registered user or whatever it is the advertiser is looking for — the affiliate doesn't get anything," he said. "Affiliate marketing is not a traffic aggregation strategy."
But is affiliate marketing better than the paid search approach?
Advertisers seem to like both.
A survey of 150 retailers by Shop.org and Forrester Research found that 59% used paid search in 2003. Nearly 50%, meanwhile, said they used affiliate marketing programs.
Retailers rated paid search as 96% effective in 2003. Affiliate marketing programs received a 94% effectiveness rating, the survey found.
Each approach has its advantages, analysts say. With paid search programs, advertisers can bid on key words or phrases in search results. A consumer typing in that phrase could likely end up on that advertiser's Web site.
In contrast, advertisers in affiliate marketing programs must hope that a consumer who clicks through to their site will be looking for something to buy, says Steven Kaufman, vice president and media director of Digitas, (DTAS) a marketing services company.
"It's a different world," he said. "You don't have a lot of control with affiliate marketing, and in a lot of cases, you get what you pay for."
In other words, affiliate sites don't always bring in good sales leads.
That's why advertisers say it's important to ditch ineffective affiliates.
Last year Avon reduced the number of Web sites in its affiliate marketing program to 2,500 from 10,000 in 2003. Avon cut the sites that didn't generate sales, says McAdams.
"We decided it was cleanup time," she said.
Now the company sees affiliate marketing as more effective than the paid search approach.
With affiliate marketing, customers are coming directly to Avon rather than searching among several rival products, says McAdams.
Other advertisers like both approaches.
Wine.com, an online retailer of wine and related products, spent about $1 million on Internet marketing services over the Christmas shopping season vs. $200,000 during year-ago period.
So far, results from affiliate marketing and paid search have been pretty even, says George Garrick, chief executive of Wine.com. And both were far more effective than plain-old Internet advertising, he says.
"What doesn't seem to work well is regular banner ads," Garrick said.
oder wie die wertvollste Internet Capital-Beteiligung Linkshare die Online-Umsätze ihrer Kunden auf Trab bringt.
Crain's New York Business
Orchestrating Sept. 11 comeback
J&R Music finally regains lost sales with online focus, new product mix
By Elisabeth Butler
January 17, 2005
Gladys Knight's visit to J&R Music World last week attracted hundreds of fans eager to hear the soul star sing gospel standards and get her autograph. Ms. Knight's rousing appearance wasn't the only cause for celebration. With the books closed on 2004, the retailer could finally say it recovered from the effects of the terrorist attack that felled the towers of the World Trade Center mere blocks away.
"We have surpassed the sales levels of pre-9/11," says Rachelle Friedman, who co-founded the downtown electronics institution with her husband, Joe, 38 years ago.
The store has always been a hot spot for tech junkies who needed to own the latest gadgets, but New Yorkers and tourists alike shunned stores below Chambers Street after Sept. 11. After the tragedy, J&R had to change the way it had done business for years.
Increased celebrity appearances such as Ms. Knight's are only one part of the new strategy J&R has employed. The company has focused more heavily on its Internet operations and has been tweaking its product mix to broaden its customer base.
"We remodel our stores quickly because technology changes quickly," Ms. Friedman says. As a family-owned business, J&R doesn't disclose sales or profit figures. But in DSN Retailing Today's list of top retailers, J&R ranked No. 142 with $323 million in revenues for the fiscal year ended June 2004. J&R was the only single-location retailer to make the list.
More and more of the company's sales are now coming from customers who live outside the city but shop on the company's Web site. To attract customers looking to buy digital cameras, portable digital music players, plasma televisions and the like, J&R has shifted more marketing dollars to promote its Internet operations and has strategically placed hundreds of links on technology sites.
"They've been one of the most aggressive in the marketplace," says Stephen Messer, chief executive of LinkShare. His company connects retailers such as J&R with tech gurus who write online about their favorite gadgets. Consumers read the write-ups and click a link to www.JR.com if they want to buy something. LinkShare started putting J&R's link on Web sites about five years ago.
Internet option
"When 9/11 happened, that team knew there would be difficulty getting people downtown, so they turned to the Internet," Mr. Messer says.
Getting shoppers to its site is only half the story. J&R has been a success on the Web because it offers sharp prices and an extensive, ever-expanding inventory, says Alan Wolf, editor of Twice, a trade journal that covers consumer electronics.
Although the Internet has been good to J&R, the Friedmans still have faith in their storefronts on Park Row. J&R owns and operates 300,000 square feet of retail space there and is planning to expand even further.
In the next few months, the retailer will add two floors to the two already dedicated to digital cameras and their accessories. It also just opened a 2,000-square-foot personal-care store with massagers and hair dryers to serve the area's burgeoning residential community. In the next year, J&R will convert 15,000 square feet of warehouse space below 17 Park Row into a new sales floor for personal care products, appliances and housewares.
The new stores are partly designed to attract more female customers, a missing component in J&R's success. The company is also partnering with InStyle magazine to exclusively sell a wedding music CD, starting this spring in its store and online. J&R's Web site will launch a bridal registry in the next three months.
Feminine appeal
"It's a chance for us to appeal to the female customer in this typically male-dominated industry," says Ms. Friedman, who talks about her family's one-block empire while surrounded by her collection of candid celebrity photographs.
Snapshots of Bruce Springsteen and a young Janet Jackson are just two among dozens of smiling faces hanging in Ms. Friedman's pink- and mint-colored office. Mixed into the display are several startling photographs taken outside J&R on Sept. 11.
Ms. Friedman recalls the decision to reopen after only six weeks, even when the insurance companies would have paid the owners more to stay shuttered.
"We had to open. It was a deserted town. It was scary," she says. "The second we reopened, the vendors were back on the sidewalk."
Gruss
cashflash