When Elliot Klein conceived his version of the dotcom dream, to createa lost-and-found service for laptop and handheld computer users, hebelieved he was filling an important market niche. And to his credit,Klein knew he needed some big-time help.

Returnme.com - which was inspired by Klein's losing his address book ina New York City taxi in 1998 - would need capabilities such asshipping, reverse logistics and customer support. Rather than seek thecapital to build all of those capabilities from scratch, theentrepreneur sought out partners that could make it happen. He formedmarketing and development relationships with handheld makers Palm andHandspring to make his company's "eTagit" retrieval service availableto device buyers. And Klein struck a key deal with FedEx: Returnme.comwould use FedEx's established NetReturn delivery network to ship foundarticles back to customers.

After the dotcom shakeout, companies are relying on traditionalbusiness practices and focusing on actions directly tied to customervalue. Executing successful partnerships represents one of those corecompetencies. The staying power of Returnme.com, a Web Business 50award winner for its innovative service, is attributable in large partto its partnerships with players like FedEx that help it servecustomers. Other Web Business 50 winners highlighted in thisarticle - Lands' End, Drugstore.com and Bid4Assets - createdpartnerships that support their business models while improvingcustomer service and contributing to growth.

Partnerships are not a new strategy, but the development of theInternet created a potential for connectivity that didn't existbefore. The Web has also spawned new kinds of partnerships, such asindustry consortia and online exchanges. During the dotcom boom,companies partnered constantly and often in shark-like feedingfrenzies in an effort to stay competitive. In a 1999 study of dealsamong dotcoms and bricks-and-clicks companies, McKinsey & Co. foundannouncements for 13,000 e-commerce alliances. Then, partnerships werea way for companies to generate press releases and (attempt to) boosttheir stock prices, says David Ernst, a principal at McKinsey & Co. inWashington, D.C., and coauthor of a report titled "A Future forE-Alliances." Partnerships were great to talk about, but talking andsuccessfully executing are two different things. "It used to be thatyou could get great buzz by announcing a partnership, and companieslooking to do an IPO were advised to partner with a major portal, anIT platform provider and a major e-commerce site," he says. "Nowcompanies have to focus on partnerships that create value."

With a changed economic climate, partnerships have emerged as asurvival tactic. In April when the Borders book chain realized itse-commerce efforts were falling flat, it partnered with AmazonAmazon.com,whose ordering and distribution channels were established."Partnerships are Amazon's only real life raft," says Carrie Johnson,an analyst at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass. "Sales areslowing, retail is reaching saturation in many categories, and sopartnerships are their saving grace." Alles zu Amazon auf CIO.de