Strategy Demand

Clients Differ Over Strategy Demands

Clients are divided over whether they will be using more strategy consultants in the future, a survey completed by Forrester Research reveals. According to its findings, Forrester suggests clients use strategy consultants that explore new Internet business models like portals and
aggregators — not those that apply cookie cutter process maps to Web-enabling inventory management.


Market Specialization

Clients in Search of Skills

Many consultancies tout a soup-to-nuts message of doing everything from strategy to implementation, but users aren't buying it. Of those clients interviewed for a recent Forrester Research survey, 72 percent said they chose their strategy vendors because of their best-of-breed offerings.


Client Feedback

The Learning Curve

According to a recent survey of 62 global companies, there is a scarcity of vertical experience among e-commerce consultants. Forty percent of the survey's interviewees reported difficulty in getting consultancies up to speed on their industry. The survey, conducted by Forrester Research, found 81 percent engage consultants today — from e-consultancies like Viant and Zefer to management consultants like McKinsey and Bain. Of the 50 companies using strategy help, more than half expect the number of providers they employ to increase or stay the same over the next two years.

On-line Sales

How Different Product Sectors Grew

Boston Consulting Group recently published its third annual The State of Online Retailing, revealing substantial growth for a variety of on-line retail sectors. Through 1999, the study found that the on-line retail market remained concentrated in a handful of categories — travel, computer hardware and software, financial brokerage, and collectibles. Travel moved firmly into the top position, while automotive experienced the strongest growth in 1999, driven by increased direct sales by such players as AutoNation, CarsDirect and DriveOff.

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