Pick A Topic
. . any topic. And take it to the Web. Chances are, you'll be right on target.
Think mega-Web merchants have molded the Internet into a
formidable corporate monolith with no space for start-ups to
capitalize on particular retail segments? With a plethora of
domains in which to buy pet goods, beauty products, toys and the
like, would-be entrepreneurs and their investors are mulling over
that very question, leading Entrepreneur staff writer Victoria Neal
to interview analyst Melissa Shore from Jupiter Communications. Is
there any space left in the virtual mall? You betcha!
Victoria Neal: With the onslaught of major Web stores, is
it too late for start-ups to enter the e-commerce revolution?
Melissa Shore: Many people believe the game is over in
certain categories, but we believe the game is just beginning.
There's a lot of shopping going on online. Jupiter projected
$15 billion in sales in 1999, but that only represents a very small
portion of the total sales for particular categories. For example,
only 3 percent of all travel sales occurred online last year. So,
for every given category, there is still lots of opportunity for
players to enter. There are plenty of opportunities for companies
to come in and really compete on certain niches--targeting a
certain customer segment and offering a specialty type of good or
service. One example is a site aimed at baby boomers and
there's another site that serves the needs and interests of
city moms.
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Neal: Some have suggested that the Web is quickly
becoming an oligopoly, unable to support new category-specific
sites.
Shore: One of the problems with the Inter-net is that it
promises total information. Now that so many consumers have this
total information, they are overwhelmed by it. Niche-focused sites
help particular segments of the population by doing the work for
them.
Neal: So, the answer is finding a niche, as
smarterkids.com and toytime.com did by selling educational toys
rather than taking a mass-marketing approach like eToys?
Shore: Absolutely! Pick a particular niche and then
commit to that niche not only in terms of content, but also in
product selection and the marketing messages you create for it. The
company must make sure that everything they do gives a consistent
message for that niche, as well as assure the niche is big enough
to make money.
Contact Sources
Cartoon Networks,http://www.cartoonnetwork.com
Jupiter Communications, mshore@jup.com, http://www.jup.com
United Media, (212) 293-8565, http://www.comics.com