From high street to quality street

This should have been a bumper Christmas for retailers as the windfall cash from building society mergers finally rolls into the high streets. It is taking its time but will it happen? We can expect the usual news bulletin as the last of the turkey is still being fed to the family pet, that this year's Christmas spending hit a record high. This is not the year of the PC, but analysts are veering towards the view that consumer affluence is generally on the up and will continue well into 1998.

This seems to be borne out by Interforum's latest survey, which takes a look at current business trends.

As consumer spending has increased, so has the demand for quality. It seems the British shopper, whether online, on hold or on site, has had enough of shoddy goods and service. So demands on businesses are increasing and more customisation is being demanded.

For resellers, this trend is affecting business. Price is becoming less important factor to both the corporate and the small buyer. International competition is increasingly based on the ability to innovate fast. This leads to increased diversification, with companies entering more markets than even five years ago. No major UK channel player can ignore the European market. And as management structures remain relatively flat after the last tranche of downsizing, the new wave of management gurus is heading for the channel, internet theories primed and ready to go.

It seems that growing your business is impossible without the internet. But how far and how fast, are key questions for any company. There is no doubt that a Web strategy is necessary, but some smaller companies have hit the fundamental problem of putting the cart before the horse - they have no network.

Resellers suddenly need management gurus and find themselves putting Don Tapscott books on their Christmas list.

Most of the growth in IT spending, according to almost any source you turn to, will be in the small business arena. Smaller companies may have no network, but as they grow they want instant access to the internet.

And they need good advice, not only about what to install but what not to install. Not everyone in every company needs desktop internet access.

Smaller companies also need to be told to time their entry on to the Web. Going live with a pitiful Website can do more damage than good. And going live when you do not have adequate staff to keep it up to date is worse. But there are some delicious ironies to savour from managers prepared to give advice on surviving the internet age. John Seely Brown and Estee Solomon Gray of Xerox Parc have this to say: 'To win in the new world of business, managers shouldn't try to gain control, they should surrender it.' Well said from the people who handed the Windows concept to Steve Jobs to exploit. If it worked once, do it again. Xerox will be worth watching in 1998.