It wasn't all hype. For companies as well as consumers, e-commerce is hotter than ever.
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Remember those starry-eyed projections in 1999 that had U.S. e-commerce between businesses reaching a staggering $1.3 trillion by 2003? Turns out they were too low. Networked business-to-business transactions now stand at $2.4 trillion, says Forrester Research Inc ( FORR ) . That means that just as investors were reeling from the collapse of Internet stocks, the technology was taking off. And Forrester's bold 1999 prediction that U.S. consumer e-commerce would reach $108 billion by 2003 wasn't so far off. Despite recession, terrorism, and war, the number is expected to come close, at a projected $95 billion this year. Says Gartner Inc. analyst Avivah Litan: "The hype is gone, but the numbers are in."
Saturday, May 10, 2003
