E-Commerce Commission Press Kit

performed by new workers responsible for programming, operating and maintaining the computerservers that “distribute” the news to Web readers.The same could be true for retail as online sales begin to substitute for in-store sales. Today, asuper store might be staffed by a few hundred employees. Warehouse personnel receive newmerchandise into the store and keep the shelves and bins filled. Salespeople advise customers onproduct features, check availability of merchandise not found on the shop floor, and book specialorders. Cashiers ring up the sale and bag the goods. Back-office staff keep track of inventoryand sales patterns, pay vendors and payroll, deposit sales receipts, and manage the day-to-daystore operations. Other workers keep the store and its grounds clean and well-maintained.A retail sale via the Internet does not require the presence of a physical store or the same intensityof staff in order to generate the sale. Virtual retailers will hire people with IT skills to developand program software, and operate and maintain computer servers and networks. They will alsoneed marketing staff, accounting departments, customer service representatives and people skilledin graphic design to keep their Web site, or “storefront,” attractive and user friendly.Whether a retailer handles the physical distribution of its own products or contracts with anothercompany to perform that function, warehouse and distribution personnel will continue to benecessary to transport products from the manufacturer’s site to the customer’s home. Retailerswith an existing store infrastructure are likely to position the online business as complementary totheir traditional store business, at least in the near term. Until online sales are of a size to warranta dedicated distribution strategy, traditional retailers may choose to deliver goods to Webcustomers from the nearest store location, adding to the workload of existing warehousepersonnel. Other retailers may choose to have manufacturers package and mail or “drop ship”goods directly to customers without going through any intermediate steps. Or, they mayoutsource the entire logistics process for the online business to a third party. In any of thesescenarios, few store personnel would be involved in an online sale.Jobs characterized by a transfer of information from one party to another—travel agents,insurance agents, stock brokers, customer service representatives—will likely see routine taskslike order taking disappear, and more complicated tasks replacing them. For instance, a leisuretraveler making plans to go home for the holidays usually knows all the carriers flying that routeand simply needs to make the reservation and pay for the flight. That would be a case of ordertaking, a function as easily performed online as by calling the airline or a travel agent. On theother hand, a couple planning a trip to South Africa might seek the advice of someone who hasbeen to the region, who can recommend hotels in the wine country near Cape Town and safaris inKruger. Similarly, someone purchasing a term life policy with a face value of $400,000 may feelcomfortable enough researching and purchasing that policy online. To help make the decision ofwhether to buy a whole or variable life insurance policy or put the money into an IndividualRetirement Account or other investment vehicle, however, he might prefer to consult an expert inperson.47