Now You See It... Now You Don\u27t Myths of the Dot.Com Market

Many would claim that the development of e-commerce is reshaping almost all industries, even to the extent that we are undergoing a paradigm shift. This enthusiasm represents a speculative bubble, what economists would describe as ‘mania’ as we witness increasing numbers of firms embracing the need for an online presence, despite the absence of both profits and sales. The recent turn of events – referred to as the ‘dot.com implosion’ – indicates that the rapid profit growth that was initially projected was unlikely to be achieved by many. As the technology markets crashed along with a number of high-profile dot.com collapses, numerous investors have almost turned off from funding this sector. This should come as little surprise. What is of interest is why myriad investors were drawn into financially supporting these start-ups in the first instance. Here we proffer some explanations, based on the mythology that surrounds ecommerce