These online merchants span diverse markets, from Software as a Service (SaaS) to online gaming, to social networking and even downloadable entertainment.
The leading companies in these various groups show impressive increases in customer acquisition, revenues, profits and valuations, and many of these companies have built their businesses on top of a recurring subscription model through which customers pay a fixed amount every month or year.
The success of these merchants has a lot to do with the fact that they've focused on building what I call "a long-lasting commerce model". The Internet is truly enabling a major shift from the physical consumption of goods and services to their intangible consumption. From a business perspective, this shift initially began in the late 1990s using the catalogue/mail order concept as its primary analogy. However, the focus on replacing retail and mail order with online commerce is not the most revolutionary change. The more profound is the online delivery of the good or service.
