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E.BIZ -- THE WEB SMART 50
PRODUCTS Transforming inspiration and new resources into gold Whirlpool » The Project: To build Net-linked appliances that can automatically order food from the grocer or adjust a washing machine's settings for specific stains. » The Payoff: Monthly service contracts could add 20% to sales. Instead of replacing appliances every nine years, customers might do so every three years. Sonera » The Project: The most ambitious service offerings for the wireless Web. » The Payoff: Some 700,000 Finns use Sonera's services each month to do everything from buying chocolates to getting a date. That has helped cut customer churn by 11% since 1999. Priceline.com » The Project: To let consumers set price on items ranging from airline tickets to canned tuna. » The Payoff: The site now handles 4% of all airline-ticket sales. After upfront losses of $1.2 billion, Priceline expects to break even in the third quarter. Enron » The Project: To create a vast online forum for trading more than 1,000 commodities and futures, from energy to financial hedges against bad weather. » The Payoff: EnronOnline drove a 30% rise in second-quarter profits. By 2005, telecom bandwidth trading alone is expected to generate more revenue than the company's core energy business. Honeywell » The Project: MyPlant.com, an e-marketplace offering everything from troubleshooting software to training services, helps relieve manufacturing headaches. » The Payoff: Honeywell now has 4,000 companies signed on, and analysts expect the operation to generate $500 million in revenues by 2005. State Street » The Project: To create new Web services that exploit the company's vast record-keeping infrastructure. » The Payoff: New information services power 17% earnings growth, one-third higher than most banks. Sprint PCS » The Project: To convince mobile-phone callers to use the mobile Web, too. » The Payoff: Sprint PCS now has 550,000 mobile Internet users--as many as all competitors combined. Equity Office Properties Trust » The Project: Equipping nearly 100 million square feet of office space with ultrahigh-speed Internet access. » The Payoff: By beating other landlords to the market with Net services, Equity Office can charge top-of-market rents--plus it gets $20 million in revenue in 2000 from telecom partners and stock and warrants. Paccar » The Project: To make the trucking industry technically savvy by shifting parts purchasing to online, building Web-powered engine-monitoring equipment into each truck, and investing in Net startups. » The Payoff: The truck company expects to whittle away at parts costs of $500 million a year, while waiting for a payoff on its $20 million in venture investments. GM's OnStar Communications » The Project: To build wireless services that help drivers navigate and summon emergency aid by adding Web content to make the service more valuable. » The Payoff: About 300,000 subscribers pay up to $399 a year. With other auto makers expected to add OnStar to their cars, 3 million vehicles could be OnStar-equipped by 2002. |
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 e.biz Contents for Sept. 18, 2000 issue Introduction THE WEB SMART 50, BY CATEGORY: Products Streamlining Customer Service Marketing Moving the Goods Management |
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