THE WIRED INDEX
In Hollywood, high concept means boiling an idea down to its box-office essence. Dinosaur, for example, might be pitched as "a ragtag band of prehistoric pals join forces to save a world turned upside-down – it's Jurassic Park meets The Poseidon Adventure"
Dot-commercial pressures have pushed the Web biz in a similar direction (think "The Amazon.com of [fill in the blank]"). But Wall Street has grown tired of high-concept etailing; suddenly, the more virtual the idea, the less capital it attracts. Pure plays – retailers without inventory, warehouses, or trucks – hit the skids when the first product return found its way back to an online store, and power started to shift from retailers with great Web interfaces to those that know how to deal with goods and customers.
Today's money is on businesses that integrate virtual retailing with physical locations. Customers might find a product on the Web, then pick it up 20 minutes later at a local outlet. Or order from a wireless site that notifies the store as they enter the parking lot. The term clicks and mortar may already be as stale as a dino-movie pitch, but the models for optimizing the virtual/physical synergy are still embryonic.
To track their ontogeny, keep an eye on Wired Index companies Wal-Mart and Charles Schwab: Each has a formidable network of real-world locations. Wal-Mart.com functions as an ordinary estore, but it also organizes local purchases via want lists and email reminders. Schwab's Web site drives traffic to its storefronts for personal consultations, and in-store "WebShops" teach customers how to go online. According to one company rep, whenever Schwab opens an office in a new location, Web traffic from that area jumps. The key is completing the feedback loop between wire and aisle.
– Phil Hood (phood@actnet.com)
INDEX PERFORMANCE (as of 5/1/00)
| Name| Since 11/30/95| Previous 12 Mos. | YTD
| WIRX | +461.06 % | +47.78 % | +7.25 %
| Nasdaq Composite | +264.49 % | +51.82 % | -5.13 %
| Dow Jones Industrials | +111.53 % | -0.51 % | -6.64 %
The Wired Index tracks 40 public companies selected by editors of Wired to serve as a bellwether for the new economy. For a complete description and the latest results, see stocks.wired.com.
| NEW MONEY
| B2C Meets F2F
