• silicon.com
• Technology
• Networks

By Sonya Rabbitte, 18 December 2000 17:00

NEWS According to a vox pop of silicon.com studio guests, ecommerce outfits will fail to secure consumer confidence until they improve logistical operations and overall site reliability. Simon Moores, director of the Research Group, admitted that while the big players may have improved their act, many e-tailers will find the demand over Christmas overwhelming as more people do their shopping online. He said: "It's the first Christmas where we've seen people using e-tail in a big way. But a great many people will be disappointed. Outfits like Amazon will do well, but I think people will still come across the problems associated with delivery and credit card payments. They will get burned." Perri 6, senior research fellow at the University of Strathclyde, insisted that e-tailers still have a lot of work to do before they gained consumer confidence, and cited his own dismal online shopping experience as a warning. "They haven't coped with much demand very well so far. The first question is whether there will be a surge in demand over Christmas. I'm not convinced. Having recently bought two things over the internet that were eight weeks late in delivery, I'm not holding my breath waiting for my Christmas presents," he said. John Ivinson, vice president of the public affairs division at BCS, said that while e-tailers have improved their act in the past year, they're still restricted by the logistical limitations of the Royal Mail. He added: "If you look at the predictions made by Royal Mail they're seriously doubting if they can deliver all the Christmas cards before the 25th. Any e-tailer relying on Royal Mail could find itself not meeting customer expectations." However, Ivinson admitted that e-tailers had learnt from last year's mistakes and were making a concerted effort to improve. "The goods are there to be sold, sites have improved, basically they're doing quite well, but people could be disappointed by the delivery mechanism," he added.