Sites Track Flops EVERYONE KNOWS E-COMMERCE is in shakeout mode. Not a day passes without another previously promising dot-com running aground – or going belly up. Veteran direct marketers say not to worry: The online firms with sound business models and the DM acumen to back them will survive.
As for the others – well, it’s hard not to gloat.
Which is the point of F superscript *ckedcompany.com. With content as mean-spirited as the name is startling, FC.com is a place to visit for rumors and claims about e-commerce sites foundering or closing. “Players” – the people who post the information – get points depending on how severe the site’s troubles are: 50 points for minor layoffs, for example, or a maximum of 100 points for “an all-out corporate slaying.”
The anonymous postings are frequently satirical or biting, often true, though never substantiated. Reading them is like having a private line to the industry’s gossip column.
Under the headline “Lays Off Almost Half,” for instance, Communities.com allegedly called employees into secret mandatory meetings. “Those invited to the 11 a.m. meeting were told they still had a job. Those invited to the 11:45 meeting were told to go away.”
Under the headline “Eat More Carrots,” the following is posted: “MotherNature, that site that sold vitamins and other health supplies, has decided to liquidate. I heard you can make good money on the Net by selling Viagra. Go for it.”
For those who want solid reporting, The Industry Standard magazine’s Web site lists e-commerce closings organized in a chart. The site (www.thestandard.com) features the Dot-Com Flop Tracker that gets right to the point, with the site’s name, who funded it and the reasons for its difficulties.
Most noteworthy here, besides the fact that the news is three weeks old, is the stunning similarity among the troubled sites: a conspicuous lack of funding.
For Eve.com: “Funded by IdeaLab. Were unable to continue due to lack of capital.” For Kibu.com: “Could no longer operate in the difficult market.
Dotcomfailures.com presents one-line news items on dot-com worries ranging from poor financial reports to closings. Readers can post a rumor or comment in response to the news. Dotcomfailures also offers other services such as a listing of tech recruiters and opinion polls of visitors to the site.
Results of one recent poll: “59% of users believe the holiday season will NOT save the remaining e-tailers.”
There’s even a place to post tech companies that are for sale. Dotcomfailures has listed itself there. Asking price is $1.
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