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1. Europe Will Experience a Boom in Ecommerce The uptake of the Internet in Europe will surge dramatically and the introduction of the Euro could lead to a surge in confidence in online banking. Ecommerce will boom as Europeans acquire new confidence in online security. | |||
2. Large Mergers will continue 1998 was marked by a number of high profile mergers both offline and online. The most noteworthy online merger was undoubtedly that of AOL and Netscape. It's likely that the mergers, acquisitions and consolidations will continue to proliferate. | |||
3. Companies Will Re-evaluate Global Policies and Small Business Will Surge Online. There will be a dramatic increase in real commitment to the Internet from small businesses. While 98 percent of US businesses are classified as small, only 1.8 percent have established an Internet presence. | |||
4. Shift in Profile of Internet User Will Prompt New Marketing Techniques The Internet will finally reach critical mass in Europe and the US. The profile of the average Netizen will change from slightly atavistic geek to "Mom and Pop" user. Women will outnumber men online and this will be reflected in the type of services offered online. Businesses will be forced to adapt to the shift in demographic and will have to readdress existing male-orientated marketing campaigns. | |||
5. Consumer Retain Power as Standards Escalate Consumers will become more demanding as issues of convenience, customer service, costing, and speed of delivery become more important than brand loyalty. Businesses will have to invest in creating higher standards of service. | |||
6. The Internet Will Mature as a Business Forum The early 1998 rocketing of Internet stocks is likely to level out and the Internet will mature as a forum for conducting business. | |||
7. Internet, the primary source of information As PCs sell for under USD800 and fixed access rates become more widespread, the Internet will replace the TV as the primary source of information in the household. for those households who are online, this will not change. | |||
8. Bandwidth Will Dominate Technology Market Higher access speeds and greater bandwidth have been promised but will be confined to specific areas within the US. As Internet traffic consumes available bandwidth, (traffic doubles every 400 days), bandwidth will continue to dominate the technology marketplace for the coming year. | |||
9. Politics Will Go Online and Online Voting Will Unroll The Internet will change the face of politics in Europe and the US. As politicians come online they will be forced to interact more with their mandate. Activmedia's FutureScapes found that two thirds of US citizens would like to vote online while 97 percent said they would like information on legislative bills, voting records and budgets to be published online. In Europe, Gallup found that 60 percent of British adults would like to vote online and 41 percent said they would like to interact with their local representative. | |||
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