BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : OCTOBER 23, 2000 ISSUE
BUSINESS WEEK E.BIZ -- UPSTARTS Addressing the Issues Stamps.com (STMP) and E-Stamp (ESTM) thought they could make a bundle by helping small-business owners avoid long lines at post offices. Here's what went wrong and the remedies they're trying: Marketing Misfires Problem: The $135 million total spent by both companies on sales and marketing since January, 1999, failed to draw customers. Solution: Try more direct methods. Stamps.com hired 450 salespeople to pound on business doors. Both Stamps.com and E-Stamp combined with Microsoft (MSFT), Intuit (INTU), and others to bundle postage software with other products for small businesses. Regulatory Impediments Problem: U.S. Postal Service, concerned about fraud, imposed such restrictions as a $500 monthly limit on the amount customers could spend. Solution: Lobby for changes. The Postal Service is considering a limit of $10,000. Narrow Product Line Problem: Too much reliance on one unproven market. Solution: Use the secure technology they developed for Internet postage to branch out into such things as online printing of event tickets and airline boarding passes. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS EBIZ Contents for issue dated Oct. 23, 2000 Dead Letter? CHART: Insufficient Postage TABLE: Addressing the Issues ONLINE EXTRA: One More Letter of Resignation at Stamps.com ONLINE EXTRA: Q&A with E-Stamp Co-Founder Suni Kapoor INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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