IT companies slammed for ecommerce hype

A leading research group, Corporate Intelligence, has attacked IT vendors for over-hyping the ecommerce market for their own gain.

Robert Clark, executive director of the company, said: "The IT industry has undoubtedly had a tendency to hype up the coming of ecommerce, saying it's really catching on, when in reality it's a much slower uptake."

The comments were made shortly after the Monday release of Corporate Intelligence's latest report on retail. It predicts that non-high street shopping in the UK will remain dominated by telephone mail order and, although it will grow, electronic-based retail will remain small in comparison.

It contradicts widespread predictions that ecommerce would be so rapidly successful that consumers would eventually shop only through the Internet.

Martha Bennet, Giga Information Group's European vice president agreed that hype has been the only thing of substance to come out of these reports: "IT companies certainly must bear their fair share of the blame for this tirade of hype, but also responsible are the IT trade press."

Clark gave his advice for IT directors in retail companies considering how to approach ecommerce: "There's a lot to be said for waiting and assessing whether or not your product is fit for the Web. There is some merit in being first on the scene but equal merit in being cautious."