News/Press Releases		Features		Event Calendar

PA e-Comm News January 10

ADVERTISERS OF THE WEEK

According to ComScore Networks, e-commerce in the United States in 2002 blew away old spending records with a nearly 40% leap over 2001. Not counting auctions, online consumer sales leaped to about $74 billion in 2002. “This is particularly impressive considering the fragile economy and one of the worst holiday retail seasons in recent memory," ComScore said in a recent statement. The holiday season may have disappointed retailers generally, but online shops did well, according to the report. The survey data count online purchases by U.S. consumers connecting from home or work, regardless of whether the seller was located in the United States. The research firm also quizzed its online shopping panel on attitudes toward online shopping, finding that 53% think the Internet is the easiest or most convenient way to shop and 61% go online to find bargains. But, privacy remains a stumbling block for e-commerce as a whole, with 38% of the panel describing themselves as "uncomfortable" giving out credit card information online.

Another first for Microsoft as it announces a plan to sell one of its software programs through the Internet, by distributing an add-on pack for Windows XP called Plus Digital Media Edition. Microsoft has broadened its relationship with users by offering Windows updates and this foray into online sales takes this relationship one step further. Microsoft says its registration of a user's hardware and software configuration is necessary to prevent piracy. Software industry trade groups estimate that 40% of the world's software is pirated; Microsoft claims that about half of the copies of its Office suite are pirated. Aside from privacy concerns and licensing issues, Microsoft's decision to sell its products via digital download may threaten other software retailers.

Commerce One has agreed to sell its online marketplace for business supplies, Commerce One.net., to eScout, a privately held company, which operates a competing Web site for corporate purchasing people. The sale includes Commerce One's contracts with more than 1,500 companies that buy and sell goods and services over its site. Commerce One has been trying to distance itself from a largely failed foray into the business of setting up virtual trading posts for business supplies. After several rounds of layoffs and a reverse stock split in the fall, Commerce One is still struggling to reignite its business.

Recently, companies that sell their products online have found themselves in a race to boost the effectiveness of their Web sites and are using Web analytics-- a technology that monitors and reports site use patterns -- to better understand how customers locate information and buy products on their sites. By so doing, these companies can improve their sites to increase customer loyalty and sales. One approach is the use of Web site logs to track the movements of prospects or customers through their online environments. This process allows an organization to determine which pages customers visit in what order, and where they eventually end up. Metrics like conversion rates (the percentage of visitors who take a desired action) also can be found in logs. Shopping-cart abandonment is one of the major headaches e-tailers face with recent studies showing consumers leave as many as 30% of shopping carts high and dry at e-commerce sites. Through Web analytics, site owners can get clues as to why abandonment rates are so high. Is it because the Web site is confusing or that at a certain point folks would really like to chat with someone live because there's just some detail they're not sure of? Is price the barrier when it suddenly appears at the checkout point?

Some folks predicted, as a result of the Internet boom of the late 1990s, a gradual end to brick-and-mortar bank branches as consumers turned to online services. So, how did the banks respond? By going mainstream. Two recent studies report that nearly one-third of Internet users have done some online banking. But the banking industry still faces some challenges since 41% of online banking customers still prefer to write checks and pay their bills through the mail. Online banking will continue to grow as more young people enter the work force. Mortgage origination is one of the fastest growing online services.

Sprint PCS has unveiled a new smartphone, the Palm-powered SPH-i330, which offers voice and data communications, a color touch screen, the Handspring Blazer browser and the Palm OS platform. Sprint continues to build a line of converged devices for its nationwide network and now offers three voice/data devices for the Vision service. The i330 supports most of the 15,000 Palm OS applications currently available, enabling customers to download software or access Vision applications, such as full-color graphic versions of Web sites, wireless messaging, Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes data, and personal information management. Other features include voice-activated dialing and the Graffiti text input area on display. The handset is available at Sprint retail outlets, online, or from third-party retailers.

Experts in the eBusiness Research Center at Penn State's Smeal College of Business Administration have developed eBizSearch, a next-generation, specialized Internet search engine that improves search results by more directly linking to specific research topics. "Focused and specialized search engines like eBizSearch will be some of the most important of future search technologies," says Lee Giles, associate director of research at the center. eBizSearch is a niche search engine that finds and indexes documents about e-business, e-commerce and closely related topics. The search engine tracks only the most relevant data as it crawls through the Web sites of universities, commercial organizations, research institutes and government departments to retrieve and catalog academic articles, working papers, consulting reports, magazine articles and published statistical facts. For the full story, visit http://www.smeal.psu.edu/news/releases/jan03/launch.html.

There is a growing unrest over anticopying technology included in the latest version of TurboTax. Intuit announced last year that versions of TurboTax for the 2002 tax year and beyond would employ "product activation," a controversial technique used by software companies to lock a copy of a program to a specific PC. Now current and former TurboTax customers are complaining in online forums such as FatWallet and in user ratings at online store Amazon.com that the technology is hampering their use of the software and is prompting them to consider alternatives, most notably H&R Block's TaxCut. According to Intuit, customers are assigned an activation number from Intuit, either by the Internet or phone, when they install TurboTax. The activation number is tied to the product "key" for that particular copy of TurboTax. Anybody who tries to install the software using that product key after it has already been activated using the number will be refused and invited to purchase a valid license. In most cases, customers who need to reinstall TurboTax on a new PC or hard drive simply have to enter the original activation number they received. Competitor H&R Block doesn't use any type of activation technology for its TaxCut software and has not made any definite plans on whether to do so with future editions. H&R Block has given customers a legitimate way to use a single copy of TaxCut on multiple PCs with a new "platinum" version that comes with a license allowing multiple installations in a single household. 

E-COMMERCE RELATED EVENTS AND INFORMATION

The following are links to upcoming seminars and other events that our readers might have an interest in and/or other information related to e-commerce.

The Cybercrime 2003 Conference and Exhibition that will be held February 9-11, 2003 at the Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, Connecticut. Information about this event is available on their website at www.cybercrime2003.com. The conference is the host to the 2nd Annual Northeast InfraGard Summit.


JPL Productions Named One of the Best Places to Work in PA for 2002

JPL Productions was named one of the Best Places to Work in PA, in the medium sized companies' (50-250 employees) category. The company earned a ranking of number 19 out of 50 companies that met the criteria for the honor. The award program, created in 2000 by the Ridge-Schweiker Administration, is the first of its kind offered by a state. The program is a public/private partnership of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, Team Pennsylvania Foundation, Kuntz Lesher LLP, Central Penn Business Journal, the Great Place to Work® Institute, and the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry. This survey and award program was designed to identify, recognize and honor the best places of employment in Pennsylvania, benefiting the state's economy, its workforce and businesses. The Best Places to Work in PA program is made up of 100 companies split into two groups: 50 medium sized companies (50-250 employees) and 50 large sized companies (more than 250 employees). JPL uses a wide range of communications-media technologies to help customers in corporations, government and organizations communicate messages, increase revenues, decrease costs, and achieve goals. They work directly with customers and through strategic partners in the advertising and information technology businesses.

For more information, visit www.jplprod.com
 

PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITIES

The following is a listing of recently published technology procurement opportunities with various governmental entities. We hope our readers take the opportunity to investigate these postings and increase their business:

DOT - United States Coast Guard (USCG)
Commandant (G-ACS), U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters
D -- Information Technology Services
Industry Day Documentation 01, Information Technology Services including
Telecommunication Services 01, Synopsis, Modification 01, Modification 02
http://www.eps.gov/spg/DOT/USCG/GACS/DTCG23-03-R-CGITSS/listing.html

GSA - Federal Technology Service (FTS)
IT Acquisition Service Center (TFL)
70 -- GRB Assist 2003 Site Licenses
Modification 01
http://www.eps.gov/spg/GSA/FTS/TFL/GRB-2003/listing.html

USAF - Pacific Air Forces
15 CONS
D -- HEADQUARTERS PACIFIC AIR FORCES, DIRECTORATE OF COMMUNICATIONS AND
INFORMATION SYSTEMS, (HQ PACAF/SC), STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW), FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CONSULTING SERVICES
Draft SOW - 23 Dec 02 01, Synopsis
http://www.eps.gov/spg/USAF/PAF/15CONS/Reference-Number-F6SCP021223/listing.html

USAF - United States Air Force Europe
USAFE Contracting Squadron
D -- Northern Communications
Solicitation 04, Solicitation 03, Solicitation 02, Solicitation 01
http://www.eps.gov/spg/USAF/USAFE/ROB/F61521-03-R-3007/listing.html

DOT - Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
Headquarters
99--Broad Information Technology Services Contract II (BITS II)
Solicitation 01, Synopsis, Solicitation 02
http://www.eps.gov/spg/DOT/FAA/HQ/2887/listing.html

DON - Military Sealift Command
MSC HQ - Washington
70 -- Simultaneous email, fax, and telex transmission
Synopsis
http://www.eps.gov/spg/DON/MSC/MSCHQ/N00033-03-P-9028/listing.html

State - Office of Logistics Management
Acquisition Management
70 -- Passport printers and associated consumables
Synopsis
http://www.eps.gov/spg/State/A-LM-AQM/A-LM-AQM/S-LMAQM-03-R-0039/listing.html

GSA - Federal Technology Service (FTS)
Information Technology Services (3T)
70 -- Formflow 99
Synopsis
http://www.eps.gov/spg/GSA/FTS/3T/GS-T03-03-R0009/listing.html

DISA - Acquisition Directorate
DITCO-Scott
D--INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES, INCLUDING COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES
Synopsis
http://www.eps.gov/spg/DISA/D4AD/DITCO/VARIOUS-26-Dec-2002/listing.html

DON - Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command
SPAWAR Systems Center San Diego
R -- SYSTEMS ENGINEERING, TEST AND EVALUATION, AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT
SERVICES
Synopsis
http://www.eps.gov/spg/DON/SPAWAR/SPAWARSYSCEN_San_Diego/
N66001-03-R-5016/listing.html

GSA - Federal Technology Service (FTS)
Acquisition Support Division (9TFR)
D -- DEERS 1.0 & DEERS 2.x MAINFRAME & UNIX
Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/GSA/FTS/9TEF/9TSDH030061/listing.html

TREAS - Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP)
Office of Procurement
U -- ELECTRONICS TECHNICIAN TO TEACH SIMULTAN ELECTRONICS COURSE Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/TREAS/BEP/OPDC20220/RFQ-03-0157/listing.html

NASA - George C. Marshall Space Flight Center
Procurement Office
R--SOFTWARE ENGINEERS&PROGRAMMER/TRAINING CONTENT DEVELOPERS Solicitation 01, Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/NASA/GMSFC/POVA/100CSC26411/listing.html

TREAS - Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC)
Procurement Division
T -- Audio Video Production Services
Amendment 01 http://www.eps.gov/spg/TREAS/FLETC/PDDC20229/FTC-03-08/listing.html

DOI - U. S. Geological Survey
U. S. Geological Survey
R--DATA ENTRY SERVICES
Amendment 01, Amendment 02 http://www.eps.gov/spg/DOI/USGS/USGS/03ERQQ0019/listing.html

DOI - Bureau of Reclamation
Bureau of Reclamation
70--Dell Equipment
Solicitation 01, Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/DOI/BR/BR/03SQ810013/listing.html

EPA - Office of Acquisition Management
EPA/Headquarters
R--Technical Support Services
Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/EPA/OAM/HQ/RFQ-DC-03-00091/listing.html

DISA - Acquisition Directorate
DITCO-Scott
D--INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES, INCLUDING COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/DISA/D4AD/DITCO/VARIOUS-06-Jan-2003/listing.html

State - Office of Logistics Management
INL Support
D -- Information technology services - Telecommunications, Computer Network and Email Management Combine Synopsis/Solicitation http://www.eps.gov/spg/State/A-LM-AQM/A-LM-AQM-WWD-INL/
S-LMAQM-03-R-0023/listing.html

USAF - Air Force Materiel Command
WR-ALC
99 -- Software Maintenance
Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/USAF/AFMC/WRALC/F09603-03-R-34002/listing.html

DISA - Acquisition Directorate
DITCO-Scott
D--INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES, INCLUDING COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/DISA/D4AD/DITCO/VARIOUS-02-Jan-2003/listing.html

NEWS & NOTES is a service of the PA e-Commerce Association. Please forward this e-mail to anyone else who might be interested in the content or in learning more about the Association. Remember to visit our website @ www.paecomm.org. or give us a call at 800-497-0809.

Newsletter Archives