Customers Rule! Why the E-Commerce Honeymoon is over and where Winning Businesses Go From Here

Rating:
Summary: Customers ( continue to ) Rule!
Review: The title, though provocative and tantalizing, is accurate.Authors Blackwell and Stephan are unabashed celebrities of the art and science of consumer behavior. It is no surprise whatsoever that the arguments and conclusions in the book are academically sound, intuitively resonant and empirically valid. It is no coincidence, either, that the style is personal, engaging and authoritative without being authoritarian. The resarch shows; practical current examples are used to cut through media hype and Wall Street analysts' obsession with trendy, flashy technology. Jump on the train, they say: the next e-business train leaving the station- all of them will take you to profits and increased market caps. WRONG! The book asks the difficult questions: Does the e-business integrate with the bricks and mortar reality of creating value for the customer? Does it make for a delightful experience? Does it make the customer want to keep coming back again and again? All this is necessary, but not sufficient. Does your e-business strategy create profit? Can this profit stream be sustained? Does it complement your current channels of supply chain management and does it lead you towards trhe new world of demand chain management? Does your strategy differentiate you from your competition? Can you sustain your advantage? The authors are technology savvy, but not mesmerized by it. The book offers insights into what strategies will work and which ones will fail and why. I recommend this book to MBA students everywhere. It is a survival handbook. Business persons will find the book practical and relevant.It will save them a lot of grief. The authors have their feet planted firmly in reality. They remind us: " e-business is no substitute for knowing what works in business and why." I learnt from this book and am giving copies to my colleague business profesors.