IBM is offering a 10% discount on software obtained through IBM.com. Already, IBM claims 60% of the site's software sales in the Americas are fulfilled electronically, up from the low teens at the end of 2000. The site now carries for sale only smaller software packages such as Lotus Notes and WebSphere Commerce Suite for OS/390, which run on workstations or midrange servers and can be downloaded in a relatively short time.
As for cutting costs, IBM estimates that sales completed online with help from a telesales representative cost 40% less than sales completed face-to-face; sales completed online with no human intervention cost 80% less. It won't state absolute dollar savings. To help, the company is sprucing up its software to make it easier to sell online.
IBM director of e-business enablement Darryl Turner attributes part of last year's jump in IBM.com's software sales to new technology IBM developed to speed and restart software downloads. IBM's labs are also investigating ways to break software into modules so it can be downloaded in smaller chunks, an effort Turner says is in the "very early planning stages."
Who will buy? Yet corporate customers say that IBM—or any software vendor, for that matter—has a long way to go before they would consider buying all their software online as a routine practice.
In general, IBM sells very complex software whose online delivery time can be measured in hours. "Would we buy online? With little items [like Java licenses], no problem, but with big items like Content Manager, we would want to discuss with [the IBM support staff] whether we need it," says David Bush, CIO of corporate truck and fleet management company LeasePlan USA, which uses IBM software to manage documents electronically.
Resellers of IBM software may lose revenue from IBM's shift online, but one integrator says the benefits of having customers educate themselves and try out software before embarking on a major project will be well worth it. "All of the other software vendors will follow this if they aren't doing it already," says Richard Came, CEO of global business strategy for Dimension Data, a technology services company.
Nonetheless, says office automation consultant Amy Wohl, customers will still want to keep a physical copy of the software on hand. Otherwise, when software goes bad, "I have to go back and get if off the Net," she says. Meaning: You have to re-download software you thought you already had.
Maine says IBM has spent the last two years rebuilding IBM.com, after learning the hard way—from highly public outages like that which occurred during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta—that "men in ponytails and earrings" were not sufficient to provide the "traditional IT structure and processes" that the job required.
With help from its R&D organization, IBM runs the site on IBM products—hardware, DB2 database, and WebSphere application server, and incorporates changes into the software as needed. On the technical side IBM is simplifying IBM.com, which consists of around 4.5 million Web pages and 2,200 separate URLs, and has integrated browsing and shopping so that customers can purchase an item immediately without backing out and clicking through a separate "Shop IBM" channel.
On the business side, IBM has embarked on a 4,500-seat installation of Siebel's customer relationship management (CRM) software, the largest in Siebel's history. Telesales representatives now handle customer support and some sales and are available to IBM.com customers through "Chat" and "Call Me" buttons on the site. They can also intervene to encourage customers to finish shopping when they suspect an abandoned shopping cart.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Ableauctions - J.M. Wood 34th Annual Late Summer Auction Sells $1.3 Million Online, Setting Internet Sales Record for J.M. Wood for a September Auctio
J.M. Wood Vice President Bryant Wood said, "We are seeing tremendous results from our online auctions and NAALive does a great job of adding to the excitement of our live auctions."
JM Wood Auction Company Inc. has been in business, specializing in construction, forestry and county surplus auctions, for 34 years and attributes their accomplishments to their advertising and professional staff. Teamed with a staff that holds years of experience, J.M. Wood has built a mailing list of 75,000 national and international prospective buyers and advertises in national publications such as: Rock & Dirt, Rock & Dirt En Espanol, Machinery Trader, Equipment Trader and Contractors Hotline. Through these marketing tools J.M. Wood expects continued success at their two locations in Montgomery, Alabama, and Columbia, South Carolina.
About NAALive
NAALive is an Internet-based broadcast service for NAA members who conduct real auctions. Utilizing NAALive's real-time software, auction houses broadcast over the Internet and online bidders participate in live auctions as if they were physically present at the auction. NAALive also enables bidders to review auction catalogs and place absentee bids prior to an event. NAALive is rapidly becoming the standard for live Internet auctions and the premiere Web site for consumer access to the auction industry. This means thousands more potential bidders for your auctions.
About Ableauctions.com
Ableauctions.com Inc. (AMEX:AAC) is a high-tech liquidator and on-line auction facilitator that operates the domains iCollector.com, Naalive.com and Unlimited Closeouts.com.
As an on-line auction facilitator, the Company, with the experience of over 3,000 auctions, has developed state-of-the-art technology to broadcast auctions over the Internet (www.ableauctions.com/technology) and currently provides the technology and related services to auction houses, enabling them to broadcast auctions over the Internet. The Company broadcasts business and industrial auctions over the Internet for auctioneers and members of the National Auctioneers Association (NAA) and art, antique and collectible auctions for numerous galleries and auction houses around the world through eBay Live Auctions.
As a liquidator, the Company, through Unlimited Closeouts, purchases overstocks, order cancellations and discontinued products from major manufacturers and importers, then sells the merchandise to major retail chains, other resellers or the public.
For a comprehensive Corporate Update and prior releases, visit www.ableauctions.com. For more information, contact Investor Relations at investorrelations@ableauctions.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, particularly as related to, among other things, the business plans of the Company, statements relating to goals, plans and projections regarding the Company's financial position and the Company's business strategy. The words or phrases "would be," "will allow," "intends to," "may result," "are expected to," "will continue," "anticipates," "expects," "estimate," "project," "indicate," "could," "potentially," "should," "believe," "considers" or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements." Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, involve known and unknown risks, a reliance on third parties for information, transactions or orders that may be cancelled, and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in our industry, to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated results include risks and uncertainties related to the performance of our staff, loss of management personnel, an inability to obtain financing as and when we need it, competition from other on-line auction businesses, our ability to implement or manage our expansion strategy, general economic conditions, our ability to license our software to other auction houses, our ability to acquire profitable companies and integrate them into our business successfully and other factors that are detailed in our Annual Report on Form 10-KSB and on documents we file from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements made herein are as of the date of this press release and should not be relied upon as of any subsequent date. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on such statements. The Company does not undertake, and the Company specifically disclaims any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect occurrences, developments, unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statement. E.&O.E.
JM Wood Auction Company Inc. has been in business, specializing in construction, forestry and county surplus auctions, for 34 years and attributes their accomplishments to their advertising and professional staff. Teamed with a staff that holds years of experience, J.M. Wood has built a mailing list of 75,000 national and international prospective buyers and advertises in national publications such as: Rock & Dirt, Rock & Dirt En Espanol, Machinery Trader, Equipment Trader and Contractors Hotline. Through these marketing tools J.M. Wood expects continued success at their two locations in Montgomery, Alabama, and Columbia, South Carolina.
About NAALive
NAALive is an Internet-based broadcast service for NAA members who conduct real auctions. Utilizing NAALive's real-time software, auction houses broadcast over the Internet and online bidders participate in live auctions as if they were physically present at the auction. NAALive also enables bidders to review auction catalogs and place absentee bids prior to an event. NAALive is rapidly becoming the standard for live Internet auctions and the premiere Web site for consumer access to the auction industry. This means thousands more potential bidders for your auctions.
About Ableauctions.com
Ableauctions.com Inc. (AMEX:AAC) is a high-tech liquidator and on-line auction facilitator that operates the domains iCollector.com, Naalive.com and Unlimited Closeouts.com.
As an on-line auction facilitator, the Company, with the experience of over 3,000 auctions, has developed state-of-the-art technology to broadcast auctions over the Internet (www.ableauctions.com/technology) and currently provides the technology and related services to auction houses, enabling them to broadcast auctions over the Internet. The Company broadcasts business and industrial auctions over the Internet for auctioneers and members of the National Auctioneers Association (NAA) and art, antique and collectible auctions for numerous galleries and auction houses around the world through eBay Live Auctions.
As a liquidator, the Company, through Unlimited Closeouts, purchases overstocks, order cancellations and discontinued products from major manufacturers and importers, then sells the merchandise to major retail chains, other resellers or the public.
For a comprehensive Corporate Update and prior releases, visit www.ableauctions.com. For more information, contact Investor Relations at investorrelations@ableauctions.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, particularly as related to, among other things, the business plans of the Company, statements relating to goals, plans and projections regarding the Company's financial position and the Company's business strategy. The words or phrases "would be," "will allow," "intends to," "may result," "are expected to," "will continue," "anticipates," "expects," "estimate," "project," "indicate," "could," "potentially," "should," "believe," "considers" or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements." Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, involve known and unknown risks, a reliance on third parties for information, transactions or orders that may be cancelled, and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in our industry, to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated results include risks and uncertainties related to the performance of our staff, loss of management personnel, an inability to obtain financing as and when we need it, competition from other on-line auction businesses, our ability to implement or manage our expansion strategy, general economic conditions, our ability to license our software to other auction houses, our ability to acquire profitable companies and integrate them into our business successfully and other factors that are detailed in our Annual Report on Form 10-KSB and on documents we file from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements made herein are as of the date of this press release and should not be relied upon as of any subsequent date. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on such statements. The Company does not undertake, and the Company specifically disclaims any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect occurrences, developments, unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statement. E.&O.E.
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