In what is becoming an ever more common refrain, the Newark Star Ledger reports that despite the well-known demise of e-grocery retailers such as Webvan, there is life left in the game.
“It’s hard to find an Internet business, no matter how off- the-wall, that's vanished completely,” the Star Ledger reports. “Someone is doing it, somewhere, even if it's on a scale that's not all about IPOs and industry dominance. And so, while no one really expects to see the return of the dot com frenzy, we're seeing ideas, once maligned, returning in less ambitious ways.”
Whether it is services like PublixDirect, which is an extension of an existing brick-and-mortar retailer, or pure plays such as FreshDirect.com, which is both local and niche-oriented, companies are seeing that there is a consumer component that wants and even needs online shopping.
“It’s hard to find an Internet business, no matter how off- the-wall, that's vanished completely,” the Star Ledger reports. “Someone is doing it, somewhere, even if it's on a scale that's not all about IPOs and industry dominance. And so, while no one really expects to see the return of the dot com frenzy, we're seeing ideas, once maligned, returning in less ambitious ways.”
Whether it is services like PublixDirect, which is an extension of an existing brick-and-mortar retailer, or pure plays such as FreshDirect.com, which is both local and niche-oriented, companies are seeing that there is a consumer component that wants and even needs online shopping.
- KC's View:
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We agree with all of this. E-grocery has never been dead…it was just done badly in certain places by certain companies.
That’s not to say that it’ll all be rosy from here on in. This an evolving business strategy. The upside is enormous.
However, there is a possible downside…as the following story suggests.
