It figures

Entrepreneur, March, 2002

It Figures

THE BEST DEFENSE?

COMPANIES ARE USING a variety of strategies to protect themselves from
the economic slowdown. Here's how they're focusing their energies:

Setting to new customers                      84%
Purchasing Smarter more efficiently           71%
Cutting internal administration               65%
Improving marketing productivity              63%
Using tougher credit and collections efforts  63%
Laying off employees                          63%

SOURCE: PricewaterhouseCoopers

Note: Table made from bar graph
Checking Out

EMPTY SHOPPING CARTS are a problem online--75 percent of online shoppers
abandon their carts without executing a transaction. Here's why:

DISPLAY STRUCTURE
HIGH SHIPPING PRICES                             72%
COMPARISON SHOPPING OR BROWSING                  61%
CHANGED MIND                                     56%
SAVING ITEMS FOR LATER PURCHASE                  51%
TOTAL COST OF ITEM IS TOO HIGH                   43%
CHECKOUT PROCESS IS TOO LONG                     41%
CHECKOUT REQURIES TOO MUCH PERSONAL INFORMATION  35%
SITE REQUIRES REGISTRATION BEFORE PURCHASE       34%
SITE IS UNSTABLE OR UNRELIABLE                   31%
CHECKOUT PROCESS IS CONFUSING                    27%

SOURCE: Jupiter Vividence

Note: Table made from bar graph
Not-So-Exotic Locals

APPARENTLY, HOME is where the online business is. The breakdown of where
online and offline businesses are based:

               ONLINE  LINE

HOME            52%    34%
LEASED OFFICE   35%    34%
SHARED OFFICE   11%    15%
OTHER            2%    17%

SOURCE: Yankelovich/Harris Interactive Strategic Consulting Group

Note: Table made from pie chart
Business As Unusual

THE BIGGEST CHANGE in the number of women-owned firms from 1997 to 2002
occurred in nontraditional markets. Here's how much the number of women-
owned business increased in these industries:

CONSTRUCTION                      36%
AGRICULTURAL SERVICES             27%
TRANSPORTATION, COMMUNICATIONS    24%
& PUBLIC UTILITIES
FINANCE, INSURANCE & REAL ESTATE  14%

SOURCE: Center for Women's Business Research

Note: Table made from bar graph