It might look like the attack of the killer snails is coming to e-commerce.
In the last year, dot-coms became "dot-bombs" and major Internetfirms sold, consolidated and went bankrupt.
The Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce canceled its ambitious e-commerce seminar series in January for lack of interest. How arelocal Web site developers and e-commerce consultants doing?
So far, Web designers still have plenty of customers, but thecompanies serious about e-commerce in 2001 want high-powered graphicsand database technology built in.
Tom Wood-Young, an Internet consultant who teaches his own e-commerce classes, said enrollment in Pikes Peak Community College's e-commerce certification program has dropped from about 40 last year toeight this year.
"Smaller companies are backing away," he said. "Larger companiesare starting to realize they need to get it right."
No quick fix
Wood-Young said a lot of small companies believed that a Web sitewould be a quick road to fat profits. Money thrown at establishing aWeb presence a year ago might not be spent today.
That's been the experience of Taa Dixon, who launched her own Webconsulting firm - 720Media - a year ago. Many of her early clientsjust wanted a Web site without understanding how it fit into theiroverall marketing plan.
The majority of her clients had no marketing plan.
"I learned early on to ask people how the Web site fit into theirmarketing plan," said Dixon, who specializes in virtual-tourtechnology. "Small-business owners are more hesitant now as theythink through those plans."
Many of Dixon's clients already have sites, but most need aserious makeover. Dixon estimates that 40 percent of her 22 clientsthis first year wanted a redesign or upgrade of an existing site.
Dixon's first client, the Springs-based Hotel Management Systems,hired 720Media to redesign its site - Dixon added an iPix virtualtour of Garden of the Gods. Hotel Management Systems sold its localhotel, the Best Western Palmer House, and no longer uses the tour onthe site.
But Dixon is optimistic that she's in the right business at theright time.
"I feel like we're in year one of a 100-year plan," she said."This is the exploratory stage and I'm excited to be involved at thistime."
Building a better site
AlphaPlex Inc. founder Edward Barry has been developing Web sitesfor four years. His Web clients include Agilent Technologies and theColorado Gold Kings, (as well as MCI and Sun Microsystems forIntranet and CD-ROM projects.)
Barry says his client roster is growing - albeit more slowly thanin the last two years - and he's seeing larger companies spendingmore to build better sites.
"A couple years ago, people were slapping together Web sites,"said Barry, who estimates AlphaPlex will work on 30 Web sites by theend of the year. "Now, people want more sophistication, better imagesand more functionality."
For example, AlphaPlex recently redesigned the site for ArabianHorse America, the Denver-based organization for all things Arabian.
Besides developing a new look and easier navigation, Barry addedfeatures like an online auction, free classified ads and an onlinestore.
Likewise, WOW! Marketing Inc. recently upgraded La PlataInvestments' Pine Creek site (which won a local Housing and BuildingAssociation award). The revamped site goes beyond showing availableinventory to include an intranet for residents.
WOW! founder Henry Tippie said clients are demanding sites theycan maintain themselves. Web-savvy customers will pay more up frontfor a site they will spend less to maintain in the long term.
"The Web's not going away," Tippie said. "When hard times come,the folks who don't cut back on marketing are the ones who'll havemore market share when the good times come back."
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