Tremble, everyone
Whatever industry you are in, electronic commerce will shake you up
EVER thought of your Web browser as an instrument of egalitarianism? In the physical world, banks come in massive, marble-fronted edifices; sex shops have low, dingy shopfronts with blacked-out windows and neon lighting. Yet viewed through your browser, both are reduced to just a screen with some pictures and text. This may be worrying for the banks (how do you convey trustworthiness without the aid of marble?), but it does point to something they have in common.
The Internet is affecting all businesses in similar ways. Every industry, for example, has suddenly become part of a global network where all companies are equally easy to reach. Information, once closely hoarded in many industries, is becoming a commodity. A few years ago, you might have had to pay a company such as Reuters a small fortune for a constant feed of stock quotes. Now practically all financial Web sites give them out (albeit delayed by a few minutes) free. As a result of these changes, many businesses that survived mainly because they were conveniently placed, or because they provided information that was hard to find, will soon have to find some other raison d'être.
This article appeared in the Special report section of the print edition under the headline "Tremble, everyone"