ig incentive to make the most of Internet marketing (Goel, 2004, p. 2). Customer acquisition costs are 50% lower in a multi-channel approach, because 30% to 75% of customers generate 100% to 125%+ of profit (Goel, 2004, p. 2). Multi-channel selling provides a ôseamless, integrated and personalized customer experience across channels,ö making it just as easy to purchase online as offline (Goel, 2004, p. 2).
This venue has not yet boosted Wal-MartÆs business into the astronomical profit figures that potentially exist, however. In 1999, we read that ôWal-Mart also readily admits that its e-commerce initiative makes up æonly a small fractionÆ of the entire company's business--and not yet a profitable oneö (Corral, 1999). Laura Heller points out that most of Wal-MartÆs product-related information comes from the manufacturers rather than from Wal-MartÆs in-house staff, which helps differentiate the site and make it unique (Heller, 2000). Wal-MartÆs biggest competitor online is Amazon.com, with 17 million vi
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