Much has been written about the way in which business can profitably use the Internet, and companies have found ways to publicize their products, offer information on their financial performance, and improve their customer service by using the Internet intelligently. This research considers how one company, Federal Express, uses the Internet to offer greater customer service to its consumers, reduce its overhead and improve its public image.
Federal Express has one of the most extensive customer service sites on the World Wide Web (Web) at http://www.fedex.com. From the home page, users can choose to track packages anywhere in the world, find a local drop off point (and the last time for pickup) or download free software from FedEx designed to help their customers (and prospective customers) use FedEx now and in the future. The site is intuitive and has bold graphics, and reinforces the image of the company as a state-of-the-art organization which is interested not only in getting packages delivered to their destinations on time, but also as a company which is dedicated to help its customers succeed.
The company's decision to offer free software and on-line package tracking may, at first, seem incongruous since FedEx could certainly charge for these services. However, the company already operates a toll-free information line which customers can call to track packages; the Internet merely offers customers another way to obtain the same information. In fact, FedEx may well be saving money because it may be able to hire fewer phone operators since customers can access the Internet and the appropriate FedEx database 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and have their questions answered without human intervention.
The same reasoning holds true for offering free software. By making software available which is keyed to FedEx products, users are more likely to choose FedEx in the future over its competitors; by emphasizing the inter...