George C. Gordon Library

MIS 579: E-Business Applications

S. Djamasbi

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Start with Business Plan Resources.

E-Commerce Industry Overviews, Investment, and Company Reports

Find a company that relates to yours, or may have a similar business model and find reports about them or the industry. Example: 1-800-Contacts via Hoovers Premium subscription at WPI.

Investors are interested in the fast paced e-commerce arena, and analyze the industry then publish investment reports. WPI has access to some reports via the General BusinessFile ASAP database. Choose Advanced Search, then Search investment reports: By ticker symbol.

We subscribe to Gartner Intraweb, which contains market research reports on IT topics

Additional Sources to Consult

Technology Company Directories

Search examples:

("web business" OR "web retail" OR internet OR ecommerce OR "electronic commerce" OR "e-commerce" OR ebusiness OR "e-business") and ("contact lenses" OR "contact lens")

(contact lens OR contact lenses) AND (statistics OR consumers OR data OR trends OR sales OR shipments OR units)

Finding Information about Internet Start Ups

Read current news and industry magazines to stay on top of this fast paced industry. Changes and developments occur daily.

To find information about pre-existing e-businesses that may have gone public on a stock exchange, search for the prospectuses using IPOcentral via Hoovers or the Lexis-Nexis Academic Business, Company Financials section. The prospectus, form S-1, is the pre-effective registration statement, or Initial Public Offering filing, that is submitted when a company decides to go public and sell shares on a stock exchange. For private companies try to search for periodical articles in local news sources (General Business File ASAP or EBSCO Business Source Premier).

For information on e-businesses that are being financed by venture capitalists, check the PriceWaterhouseCoopers Moneytree survey.

Check out the National Venture Capital Association. Subscribe to Tech Dow Jones VentureWire Alert (free edition) for daily updates on new funds and news on portfolio companies.

Trade Publications: E-Business or Internet Start Ups

Search library databases Journal/Magazine Articles:

Scan headlines & read free online content:

Internet Advertising and Marketing Resources

Your E-Business Customers: Data & Trends

Search web or article databases for your industry or market and research companies that provide data on usage and consumer trends: ComScore Media Metrix, Neilsen NetRatings, WebTrends, HitWise, Forrester

E-Commerce Policy

Research by Business Plan Section

Business Plan Section Research Tools

Business Description

Review similar companies in Hoovers, 10-Ks of existing companies and Company Profiles in EBSCO Business Source - Business Searching Interface

Industry Databases & Electronic Resources

Market analysis

Articles in trade magazines and business news such as Wall Street Journal, LexisNexis Academic (choose Business), or EBSCO Business Source

For customers and target market see Business Plans research guide, Know Your Customer section for search strategies.

  • Search Trade Magazines & Journal databases - articles on customer or consumer preferences & profiles
  • Data - use to find numbers, statistics
  • trade associations often report statistics and also survey customers, use Associations on the Net or Gale Encyclopedia of Business and Professional Associations (REF HD2425 .G34) or web search on keyword and "association"
  • Trends can be identified in trade publications such as: CIO

Competitors

Web searching Hoovers, 10-Ks of existing companies and Company Profiles in EBSCO Business Source - Business Searching Interface

. Sometimes an industry association may have a member directory.

Advertising

Sample search: (marketing or advertising or promotion or ad campaign or sponsorship) and (your product here)

Find books on marketing | Find articles in internet advertising or marketing in magazines such as AdWeek or Advertising Age

Pricing

Compare with other online sites and charges. Search for articles in EBSCOhost Business Source and other article databases which describe pricing models.

Delivery & Payment

Visit IPO Central (in Hoovers) and browse or Build a Search for new internet related publicly traded companies. Find relevant trade magazines as well as investigate other company's practices.

Research & Development

Look at trends in R&D in electronic commerce or internet business by searching for articles in trade magazines:

Risks

Risks are now outlined in 10-K but to get a sense of risk a wide understanding of the market you are entering is needed. Reading trade publications, looking at sources that may include similar companies may lead you to risk factors to consider. See article databases and company sources such as EBSCOhost Business Source, for industry snapshots.

Financial

Find a similar public company and benchmark their financials: use Thomson ONE Banker, LexisNexis Academic, or SEC Edgar for 10-K filings

Use industry ratios to benchmark against industry averages:

  • Almanac of business and industrial financial ratios. Reference Collection HF5681 R25 T68
  • RMA annual statement studies. Reference Collection HF5681 B2 R6
  • Other company research tools allow users to generate peer ratios: Thomson ONE Banker | Compustat

Find similar business plans.

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Last modified: Sep 15, 2009, 17:17 EDT
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