Atlanta - Arthur Andersen LLP and the Rosen Consulting Group have released a report titled "The Impact of eBusiness and the Internet on Commercial Real Estate."
The report analyzes five different sectors of real estate and projects the impact that the Internet will have on each. The five sectors analyzed are retail, industrial, office, hospitality, and multi-family residential. The report predicts that brick-and-mortar retailers who use the Internet to complement traditional retailing will have the most success.
The industrial sector is said to be a "clear winner as the Internet and eBusiness grow in importance," while the report claims that office development will change to accommodate the increasingly high-tech needs of tenants.
A "mixed impact" is predicted for the hospitality industry, and the report says that "In coming years, Internet access will become as commonplace and expected in multi-family properties as a phone jack."
Boca Raton, Fla. - David Brazier has been hired as the new vice president of marketing for e-Builder, a provider of Internet-based construction management applications.
He formerly held the same title at Auspex Systems. "e-Builder has an exciting future in the construction and Internet marketplace," said Brazier is a statement. "I am confident my background and skills will help the company continue to lead in this competitive, cutting-edge field."
Chicago - General Growth Properties' chief Internet venture, www.Mallibu.com, is being tested at RiverTown Crossings Mall in Grandville, Mich.
The site connects the web and brick-and-mortar retailers, allowing customers to browse the Internet and make purchases from several different retailers, pay for them all with one credit card transaction, and pick them up at one location at the mall or have them shipped.
General Growth expects to eventually extend the program to its remaining 134 malls across the country.
Hoffman Estates, Ill. - Veteran retailer Sears, Roebuck, and Co. has expanded its PartsDirect website to include commercial customers.
The new site, www.spdcommercial.com, offers businesses more than 4.2 million parts from over 400 manufacturers. Besides parts, the site includes owners manuals and schematics for many products and a variety of search modes to help customers find the part they need.
Palo Alto, Calif. - Altavista Shopping recently announced that it has passed both AOL and Yahoo! to become the most visited shopping portal on the web.
The company credits this move to its new Altavista Rewards program, a sort of "frequent shopping" club where customers can earn points that they can later use for discounts on products. By participating in Altavista Rewards, customers also make themselves eligible for such prizes as exotic trips and a Mercedes SLK 230 convertible. There was a 142% increase in traffic on www.shopping.altavista.com in the first month after the program's debut.
San Diego, Calif. - Claritas and Nielsen/NetRatings have formed a partnership that will help companies to "better target Web consumers." Combining Nielsen's Internet audience data with Claritas' marketing segmentation systems, Prizm and MicroVision, the new venture aims to give companies better information and better tools to strategically plan their marketing efforts on the web.
San Francisco, Calif. - MobShop, a group buying service provider, has been ranked the second fastest growing website by PC Data Online for the week ending June 3rd. In a separate report in April PC Data Online declared MobShop twelfth in conversion rates among the top twenty eCommerce sites, with 10.4 of first-time visitors making a purchase. MobShop organizes individual buyers into large groups in order to take advantage of volume discounts.