Chemdex, an American chemicals exchange, which once had a market capitalisation of $11 billion, shut down in 2000; its parent company has since shifted its focus to selling software that automates business processes.
Part of the reason for such reversals is that suppliers of goods and services inevitably suffer in electronically mediated sales environments as price becomes the main differentiator and they are forced to cut their margins to the bone in order to compete.
Electronic exchanges and marketplaces have subsequently been unable to generate the enormous volumes of trade needed to generate the commissions that make their businesses profitable and have been forced to retrench; only those offering deep knowledge of their industries are showing signs of thriving.
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