(EMAILWIRE.COM, January 09, 2001 ) Peterborough, NH ActivMedia Research LLC (www.ActivMediaResearch.com) -
Website executives who took part in ActivMedia Research's annual scan of
online revenues think 2002 will be the year B-to-B E-Commerce revenues
surpasses online retailers selling direct to consumers. Based upon the data
collected in the study, B-to-B revenues online will triple in 2001 to reach
$263 billion.


Today more than half of all B-to-B websites (55%) attempt to generate sales
indirectly from their sites, as a result of marketing but not active sales
at the site. One-third (32%) actually generate sales directly at the site
and the remainder (13%) make no attempt to sell at their primary site.


How B-to-B Web marketers intend to use their websites may be shifting.
Firms that have been online the longest are most likely to attempt to
generate sales indirectly, as are firms that are younger. However,
significantly more 2-year-old B-to-B sites are going the indirect-sales
route. Very few of these firms are selling direct. In contrast, twice as
many one-year-old and three-plus year-old firms are selling direct.


This suggests that firms that established a Web presence several years ago
did so primarily for indirect sales purposes although many of them have now
added direct-sales capabilities. Firms that entered two years ago have not
yet brought their websites to the point of conducting direct sales
business. The newest sites are establishing themselves, like other B-to-B
sites, to generate sales indirectly, although many of them (32%) are also
selling direct as well.


Revenue Generation by Years Online (%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 yr or less 2 yrs 3 yrs
----------------- --------
---------
Sales Direct at
Site 31 14 37
Sales Indirectly -
Marketing 48 78 54
No Sales
Sought 21 8
8
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Web managers of business-to-business sites allot half their total
site-design and operational budgets to site development on an ongoing
basis. Average site-development costs of B-to-B sites triple between the
first and second years of operation, then subside in later years as online
business designs stabilize, allowing companies to capitalize on their early
years' investments.


MORE INFORMATION:


The "Real Numbers Behind Business-to-Business Online 2000," available for
$1,495 (single copy) or $5,000 (site license), presents an in-depth
analysis of the B-to-B sector of the Web and its six major segments: B-to-B
retailers, B-to-B offline/online marketers, Manufacturers, Online
wholesalers/distributors, Professional business services and B-to-B
Computer services/VARs.
http://www.activmediaresearch.com/business-to-business_2000.html


The "Real Numbers Behind Web Hosting & Development" (single copy: $1,495 or
site license: $5,000) details five site design archetypes to explain how
and why online business have made their design choices. Additional factors,
including specific online business sector, site size, number of visitors
and transactions, number of products, years of online experience, etc.,
will help interpret the information that has been gleaned from the sites in
this study.
http://www.activmediaresearch.com/web_hosting___development_2000.html


ORDERS / QUESTIONS
Client Services
research@activmediaresearch.com
800-639-9481 or 603-924-9100, ext 125.


PRESS CONTACT
Chris Anne Wheeler
VP of Information Services
Tel: 800-639-9481, 603-924-9100 Ext. 127


ActivMedia Research, LLC
http://www.ActivMediaResearch.com
46 Concord Street
Peterborough, NH 03458
Fax: (603) 924-7258

Contact Information:
ActivMedia Research
Joseph Nchor
Tel:
Email us