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PA e-Comm News October 18

ADVERTISERS OF THE WEEK

Do you know what "KaZaA," "Halloween," "DragonBall," "NFL," and "Yu-Gi-Oh!" have in common? They are among the top search terms reported on both the The Lycos 50 and the Yahoo! Buzz Index of the 20 leaders for the week ending October 6, 2002.

Standing on line for a teller or searching out an ATM may soon be a thing of the past according to reports that tout the growing popularity of online banking. With the exception of being able to withdraw cash directly from the PC, many banking transactions can now be easily completed online. The online banking population grew 37.6% in 2001 according to eMarketer. Of the projected 70% of all U.S. households online by 2004, it is anticipated that 37% will be banking online. Banks thought online banking would reduce traffic at the branch and the call center, but they are finding that customers want the same banking services no matter the channel: Internet, branch, ATM or call center. The best solution is combining the Internet and in-person channels when dealing with complex financial tasks such as mortgages and financial planning. A recent study by Gomez Inc. indicates that customers will be gained through enhanced online services such as electronic document delivery of statements and images of cleared checks and that promotion of bill payment has become more aggressive, with an increase in the number of firms offering incentives and strong encouragement to start paying bills online. Gómez predicts that these innovations, coupled with a focus on customer acquisition, could lead the 34 million Internet users that are expected to bank online by 2005. According to Jupiter Research, the group most attracted to online banking is classified as "young affluents" — U.S. adult Internet users, ages 24 to 35, with household incomes in excess of $75,000. Jupiter found that almost half of young affluents engage in online bill viewing and 44% pay their bills online.

Customers clearly prefer to use e-mail if it means avoiding phone-hold purgatory, but the response systems in place at many companies serve only to create yet another hellish experience. The reasons include a failure to integrate e-mail into the customer transaction histories maintained by contact centers and deployment of e-mail programs that are simply too limited to figure out exactly what the customer wants. A recent Gartner report indicated that advances in analytics technologies are gradually making it possible for e-mail to deliver on the promise of lower-cost customer service, compared with fielding queries via the phone, by eliminating the need for some phone handling while reducing the price of the e-mail alternative. Templates are now better equipped to dissect e-mails for content and analytics improvements have made e-mail smarter by helping companies figure out exactly what a customer is asking. The newer systems can either suggest a short list of possible solutions or route the customer to a specialist who has the answer. These systems make possible a "blended agent" organization whereby when someone calls in to a contact center, the phone rep's computer gets a "screen pop" detailing all previous e-mails sent by the customer. This addresses the common problem of customers having to start a whole new relationship on the phone after having no success with e-mail. Gartner believes that companies that employ smarter e-mail technologies stand to gain much more in the long term because analytics allow companies to turn incoming e-mail into a treasure trove of customer concerns, buying patterns and other information that will help them fix mistakes and improve overall service. This technology also allows firms to initiate more effective segmenting of customers and tiering of service, giving high spenders priority on incoming mail, just as they are jumped ahead in the queue when making a call.

Jupiter Research reported that in 2001 American consumers viewed 643 million bills online, which represents 6% of all U.S. consumer bills and that number is forecast to jump to 3.5 billion in 2006, or 32% of all such bills. National banks have spent billions of dollars developing online services and more recently the smaller regional and community banks also have invested heavily in providing Net services but many people still choose to view and pay their bills directly to their credit card, telephone and utility companies. The study predicts that by 2006 more than 50 million households will view bills online and 52 million households will pay at least one bill online.

"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" doesn't debut in theaters for another month but tickets for the movie are already on sale at Internet box offices such as Fandango, AOL's Moviefone and MovieTickets.com. As they have with previous blockbusters, the sites are trying to cash in on the early buzz on what is expected to be one of the year's most popular movies. This is exactly the type of movie that is tailor-made for advanced sales because people will flock to buy tickets for films that are thought to be sellouts. Although they still make up just a fraction of the overall market for movie tickets, online ticket sales have been growing in recent years, as they have become a welcome alternative to standing in line. Last year's Harry Potter movie set records for online tickets sales as part of its $90 million opening weekend in overall sales. This year's return to Hogwarts opens in theaters on Nov. 15, and it could prove to be even more popular than the first movie. Fandango started selling Harry Potter tickets last week, which is the earliest the company has ever started selling tickets to a movie. MovieTickets.com sold about 740,000 tickets, about $4.5 million worth, for last year's Harry Potter movie, which makes it the site's second best-selling ticket ever, after "Attack of the Clones."

Hotels could soon find it easier to sell rooms online, thanks to the recent acquisition by Expedia of Newtrade Technologies, a Montreal-based software development company. Newtrade is developing an XML-based system that will allow hotels to send information about their room availability and pricing to various distribution networks via the Internet. Expedia and Newtrade plan to introduce the new technology early next year, the companies said. Travel has been one of the biggest and fastest growing areas of e-commerce but online hotel bookings have long trailed behind airline ticket sales. A recent research report from Bear Stearns projected that use of Web sites to book hotel rooms is poised to surge in the next few years. Expedia said it acquired this as a tool to improve hotel distribution, not as a revenue-generating business.

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 - Federal Technology Service (FTS)
Acquisition Services Division (6TS-A)
70 -- GENERAL PURPOSE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT WITH SPECIAL WARRANTY NEEDS
Modification 01
http://www.eps.gov/spg/GSA/FTS/ASD6TSA/6TSA-03-JMT-0013/listing.html

NASA - Goddard Space Flight Center
Office of Procurement
70--HIGH-DENSITY TAPE DRIVES
Synopsis
http://www.eps.gov/spg/NASA/GSFC/OPDC20220/RFQ5-910-83780-907/listing.html

NASA - Langley Research Center
Office of Procurement
A--TEAMING OPPORTUNITY FOR THE ADVANCED INFORMATION SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY (AIST) PROGRAM NRA
Synopsis
http://www.eps.gov/spg/NASA/LaRC/OPDC20220/SS-055-AIST/listing.html

USAF - Air Force Space Command
21CONS (Bldg 982)
D -- Communication Support Services
Solicitation 01, Synopsis
http://www.eps.gov/spg/USAF/AFSC/21CONSb984/Reference-Number-A76CS2/listing.html

USAF - Air Force Space Command
21CONS (Bldg 365)
D -- Peterson Air Force Base Network Services
Draft Statement of Work 01
http://www.eps.gov/spg/USAF/AFSC/21CONSb365/F05604-02-R-0017/listing.html

DOT - Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
Mike Monroney Aeronautical CTR
99--Software Maintenance for Automated Line Test Equipment (ALTE) Systems
Synopsis
http://www.eps.gov/spg/DOT/FAA/MMACTR/2789/listing.html

DOC - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Acquisition and Grants Office
70 -- Request for Information for Networking Services IJPS NOC
Modification 01, Synopsis
http://www.eps.gov/spg/DOC/NOAA/AGAMD/Reference-Number-
NAAJF400-3-10001/listing.html

DISA - Acquisition Directorate
DITCO-Scott
D--INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES, INCLUDING COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES
Synopsis
http://www.eps.gov/spg/DISA/D4AD/DITCO/VARIOUS-15-Oct-2002/listing.html

USN - Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command
SPAWAR Systems Center Charleston
R -- Engineering & Technical Support Services
Synopsis
http://www.eps.gov/spg/USN/SPAWAR/SPAWARSYSCEN_Charleston/
N65236-02-R-0053/listing.html

USN - Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command
SPAWAR Systems Center San Diego
70 -- EWA STRATEGIST Software, Maintenance, Training and Technical Support
Synopsis
http://www.eps.gov/spg/USN/SPAWAR/SPAWARSYSCEN_San_Diego/
N66001-03-Q-0251/listing.html

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