In the year 2000, several dot.com retailers filed for bankruptcy, shut down their operations, or faced the riskof their stockbeing delisted on the stockmarket. But did any dot.com retailer do it right? Were there any winners? If yes, who are these winners? What is the product and firm profile of these winners? What lesson, if any, can be learned from these winners and losers? This article addresses these questions based on a study of 48 dot.com retailers, conducted in December 2000. The study identified 1-800contacts.com as the sole winner, using two performance indicators: percentage change in stockprice since the initial public offering and stockoptions underwater. Based on a proposed conceptual frameworkof product and firm characteristics, the profile of 1-800contacts.com is compared with the hypothesized winner, Amazon.com, and other dot.com retailers. Implications of the study and limitations and opportunities for future research are discussed.
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