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PA e-Comm News MARCH 29

Basically Useless Information – What is the most popular name chosen by boat owners for their boat? (Answer later).

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, e-commerce sales gained 19.3% year over year in 2001, although total retail sales grew by just 3.3%. Many e-commerce firms actually emerged as recession-defiant entities. Many people shunned big-ticket items like cars, furniture and major appliances but still spent on books, CDs, a handful of birthday presents and some home-office supplies, items you can purchase online. And, with consumers being more price-conscious lately, bargain hunting is critical and what better medium to use than the Web.

A recent A.T. Kearney study reported that 40% of mobile phone users would like to use their mobile phones for small cash transactions like transit fares or vending machines. This study also found that only 2% of the mobile phone users surveyed have actually used their phone to make a mobile payment. Short messaging service (SMS) is being used at least once a month by 80% of mobile phone users in Europe to send short text-based messages. The rise in SMS use also brought a sharp increase in advertising sent via this capability. The study also found that penetration of Internet-enabled mobile phones continues to grow, with Internet-enabled phones being used by 23% in the United States, 33% in Europe, 67% in Japan and 29% in the remainder of Asia. This is a 41% increase from the June 2001 study.

A recent report from Jupiter Media Metrix predicts that revenues from paid online content will only grow to $5.8 billion by 2006 – up from $1.4 billion in 2002. Why? Because 70% of online adults cannot understand why anyone would pay for content online. Jupiter expects the highest revenue generation will be audio/video entertainment, adult entertainment and financial and business news content. The areas expected to generate the least revenue include consumer/shopping aids, content for kids and sports content. According to the survey, fewer than 6% of online consumers are willing to pay for kids, sports, video or shopping aid content.

How do e-tailers reach those not yet comfortable with Internet shopping? They must simplify their storefronts and establish brick-and-mortar partnerships. They need to make the shopping experience easier through improved search capabilities and visualization tools. Multichannel retailers have begun to heed this philosophy, like Lands' End’s virtual models and Homestore.com and Century21 using online virtual home tours. You cannot forget that many e-commerce holdouts are concerned about security or fulfillment or inadequate Internet connections, but still rely on the Web for product research. Most multichannel retailers use online content and information to lure hesitant buyers into physical stores.

Monster.com has launched its first local job site aimed at hourly workers. The site initially is focusing on the metropolitan region around Cincinnati but more locally focused JobMatch.com sites will be rolled out. The local sites will have a heavy emphasis on job listings for so-called non-exempt or hourly wage earners. The JobMatch sites will function much like Monster.com but will also have an offline component that lets workers use either a toll-free number or traditional mail to fill out job applications. The site lists jobs for registered nurses, landscapers, and restaurant and childcare workers, among others.

WEB SEARCHING TRENDS: SEX IS OUT, E-COMMERCE IS IN -- People are looking less for sexually oriented material on the Web and more for business information, a new Penn State-led study says. At the same time, researchers found that Web users aren't spending the time they need to get quality information and that Web designers may need to develop a new generation of search engines. The study is the latest of three led by Amanda Spink, associate professor of information sciences and technology, who examined the behavior of 200,000 users of the Excite Web search engine. The results were published in the March edition of IEEE Computer. Data were compared from 1997, 1999 and 2001 to track trends in search topics and in search behavior. The researchers found that, over time, searches in the area of "Commerce, Travel, Employment, or Economy" and "People, Places or Things" ranked closer to the top. Users may also be getting less patient, the researchers feel, and are willing to view fewer Web sites retrieved through searches. For the full story, visit http://ist.psu.edu/news/CurrentNewsDisplay.cfm?HeadlineID=97.

ANSWER: OBSESSION.

TECHNOLOGY 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:

GSA - Public Buildings Service (PBS)
Allegheny Realty Service District (3PK)
U -- Course Development 
Amendment 01 http://www.eps.gov/spg/GSA/PBS/3PK/GS-03P-02-CDD-0045/listing.html

HHS - Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, formerly known as the Health Care Financing Administration Acquisition and Grants Group D -- Professional IT Services Solicitation 01 http://www.eps.gov/spg/HHS/HCFA/AGG/RFP-CMS-02-0005/listing.html

USAF - Air Education and Training Command
Randolph AFB Contracting Office
R -- Advertising and online support services for civilian Air Force personnel recruiting Modification 04 http://www.eps.gov/spg/USAF/AETC/RandAFBCO/F7DPKD20500100/listing.html

DISA - Acquisition Directorate
DITCO-Scott
D--INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES, INCLUDING COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/DISA/D4AD/DITCO/VARIOUS-25-Mar-2002/listing.html

USDA - Office of Procurement and Property Management
Procurement Operations Division
D -- Microsoft Product Support Services
Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/USDA/OPPM/POD/Reference-Number-20CIOPP-0026/listing.html

ODA - American Forces Information Service/Television-Audio Support Activity T-ASA March Contracting Office 70 -- Visual Information Management System (VIMS) Draft RFP Modification 01 http://www.eps.gov/spg/ODA/AFIST-ASA/MarchARBCA/MDA113-02-R-0009(draft)/listing.html

AOUSC - Office of Internal Services
Procurement Management Division
D -- AUDIO/VIDEO TRANSMISSION SERVICES
Synopsis http://www.eps.gov/spg/AOUSC/OIS/WashingtonDC/MS-02-001/listing.html


Source: www.eps.gov . For direct assistance, contact your local Procurement Technical Assistance Center at www.PaPTACs.com

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 call 717-238-9366.

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

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