Opinion: The internet has made fools of timid retailers

Ajaz Ahmed

The internet has gone from a low-stakes place to reach people to an arena that if you get it wrong, businesses will fall off the edge of a cliff, says Freeserve founder Ajaz Ahmed.

Just 20 short years ago, the company I founded, Freeserve, launched to an unsuspecting world. At the time, very few people in the UK had used the internet, so few that Microsoft didn’t bundle a browser with Windows. What was the point? Hardly anyone was on the internet.

Fast-forward to today: now we don’t have to plug a wire into the phone socket, your computer doesn’t make that funny noise to log on and you can even use your mobile phone. The internet is everywhere and is part of our daily lives.

But, boy, has it made fools of people.

 

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