The relatively brief history of the Internet is littered with stories of dot-com flameouts -- companies that blew through millions of dollars in Venture Capital funding before riding off into the bankruptcy sunset. Most notable of these failed companies were the web retailers who bragged about their Super Bowl ads, but generated little sales from their monumental branding campaigns. Here's a few selections from the hall of shame https://www.bandf.ie/.
Pets.com
One of the trademark stories from the crash of the first Internet bubble, Pets.com looked like a positive thing. Plenty of cash, a Super Bowl and an unforgettable sock-puppet mascot all placed this pet food delivery service into the minds of millions of Americans. The problem was, nobody stopped to take into account whether the enterprize model was sound. Turns out, it wasn't, as people didn't really want to watch for the pet food and supplies to reach via UPS. The organization went under after just a year and a half in business.
Webvan.com
In 1999, Webvan.com was the darling of the Internet world. The web grocer raised almost 400 million dollars within just 6 months and looked to be on its way to Internet success. But a funny thing happened as you go along -- people just didn't warm as much as the thought of buying grocery essentials online. The grocery business has very thin margins to begin with, so everytime Webvan used a particular offer to entice customers, it fell very much deeper into debt. The organization closed with little fanfare in 2001 https://www.complasinternational.ie/.
eToys.com
Although eToys.com was eventually reborn after being purchased by KayBee Toys, the first iteration of your website experienced one of the very spectacular flame-outs in web history. To put it simply, the organization used the bulk of its $150 million is start-up capital to advertise and build the brand. Once the customers didn't come, the stock price sank to nine cents a share. Closure soon followed https://earsense.ie/.
MVP.com
How could a sporting goods and apparel site backed by athletic luminaries such as for example John Elway, Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky fail? Easy, in the event that you don't have any significant sales growth and can't pay back your loan/investment from partner CBS. Despite a ton of initial PR and almost a $100 million in VC capital, MVP.com closed up look for good after a single year in business.
Boo.com
The women's clothing company Boo.com was ahead of its time...but not in a good way. The website used Flash and JavaScript heavily at any given time when not many people had high-speed Internet connections. As a result, shoppers became frustrated and turn from your website in droves. Boo.com posted a lack of $160 million dollars before it was liquidated in 2000 https://www.outsourcesupport.ie/.
Why Online Shopping Gets in Right in 2009
The Web 2.0 era has been the scene of more online retailer success stories because now, innovative thinking and real customer growth has replaced "pie in the sky" big ideas that generate no money. Auction houses, overstock companies and deal of your day websites are enjoying success in 2009 as they are smart business models that go easy on the "bells and whistles" and instead deliver no-frills discount shopping to a military of consumers. The internet has come a long way since these dot-com-busts, and as such, online shoppers are actually treated to more secure websites with better selections and more incredible savings.
