Business-to-Business Internet Marketing, Fourth Edition - Lifecycle ...

Selling on the Internet 301
Amazon.com (www.amazon.com)
Amazon.com is, of course, one of the leading consumer e-commerce
sites on the Internet, with some 32 million customers and over $2
billion annually in sales, but the site is garnering an increasing percentage
of its sales from business customers. In mid-2001, for example,
Amazon.com launched a software licensing center to offer small, midsize,
and home businesses an opportunity to save money on software
products for multiple users. Instead of purchasing several copies of
software packages, organizations can purchase a license for each individual
user. The software license gives the user the legal right to use a
particular software application. Designed to reduce the expense and
overhead costs associated with acquiring, upgrading, storing, maintaining,
and managing media, packaging, and documents, Amazon.com’s
software licensing center lets customers save up to 20% off full retail
pricing. Customers will also be able to easily customize the quantity
of products they need and tailor their purchasing levels to best fit the
organization, whether they need software for 5 computers or more
than 1,000. In addition, the software licensing center will help insulate
customers against the cost of software upgrades by offering upgrade
advantage options.
Biztravel (www.biztravel.com)
Biztravel (Figure 10.1) had the formidable task of carving out the business
travel market for itself on the Web. Faced with competition from
such heavy-duty competitors as Expedia (www.expedia.com) and
Travelocity (www.travelocity.com), not to mention the airlines themselves,
Biztravel took a bold, breakthrough step in May 2000. That is
when the site began offering refunds for late or canceled flights on five
of the largest airlines. According to The Wall Street Journal, this highrisk
move resulted in a fivefold increase in member registration and a
50% increase in ticket sales. Biztravel still differentiates itself by offering
this guarantee.
Boeing (www.boeing.com/assocproducts/bpart/partpage/)
Wait a minute…Boeing? They’re not selling airplanes online, are they?
No, but Boeing has become known as a leader in b-to-b e-commerce
through its successful Boeing PART Page. Launched in late 1996, this
specialized Web site has grown by more than 100% each year in transaction
volume, and it supports nearly 75% of the world’s jet transport
fleet in spares-related business. The Boeing PART (Part Analysis and
Requirements Tracking) Page provides airlines and maintenance firms