12.1. Introduction
A computer game company was forced to shut down its e-commerce site due to heavy traffic. The site went down early on Monday right, after the new version of its popular video game went online. The site received 200,000 hits in just one minute, fifteen times more than the expected volume of traffic. "We have been victims of our own success!" said the vice president for online operations. This undesirable scenario shows how demand forecasting is critical for e-business and emphasizes the importance of good planning and forecasting for online business environments.
In electronic business, companies must meet customer's expectations in terms of products (i.e., selection, price, and customer service), usability, availability, and ...
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