Cisco's E-commerce Connection

In 2001, Cisco sold more than $17 billion of a total $19 billion worth of routers, switches, and other network interconnect devices over the Web. Cisco's Web site (www.cisco.com) has evolved over several years, beginning with technical support for customers and developing into one of the world's largest e-commerce sites. Today, Cisco offers nearly a dozen Internet-based applications to both end-use customers and reseller partners. Cisco began providing Internet support in 1991. Software downloads, defect tracking, and …showed first 75 words of 669 total…

…showed last 75 words of 669 total…download new software releases directly from Cisco's site, saving the company $180 million in distribution, packaging, and duplicating costs per year. Having product and pricing information on the Web and Web-based CD-ROMs saves Cisco an additional $50 million per year in printing and distributing catalogs and marketing materials to customers. By using e-commerce, Cisco is able to increase the sales to business while reducing costs associated with order processing, customer service, technical support, and confirming order status.