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A New Wild Animal Is Prowling the Cyber Block

National Groups Tout

The Benefits Arising

From Telecommuting

Across the U.S.A. from Miami to L.A., an E-commerce firm is taking a walk on the wild side.

Fiera.com, which has its U.S. Hispanic market headquarters in San Diego, is targeting Latinos in the United States with “savage” offerings in cyberspace. The firm’s wild side comes from its name, which means “wild animal” in Spanish.

Some of Fiera.com’s special E-offerings include books, music, computer equipment toys, personal electronics, video games and health and beauty products.

Fiera.com plans to tap into the estimated 6.5 million U.S. Hispanics who are online. Last year, more than 2 million of these Hispanics made purchases on the Internet at $550 each, according to Forrester Research, Inc., a Massachusetts-based Internet research firm.

“So this is over a $1 billion market,” said Derene Allen, general manager for Fiera.com’s U.S. Hispanic market division in San Diego.

Fiera.com is also carving a niche in Latin America. Last month, Fiera.com announced a $25 million expansion with the launch of its Portuguese language site in Brazil. The expansion included the acquisition of MicroSite.com, one of the largest online retailers in Brazil that sells technology products.

Fiera.com also has a presence in Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Argentina and Puerto Rico.

“Many of our U.S. customers have close family ties or business ties in Latin America so they can purchase products off our site and we can guarantee delivery in seven days to those countries,” Allen said.

The Spanish/Portuguese site will soon include English.

“Some customers who are looking for a book or Spanish music like to navigate in Spanish,” Allen said. “If they’re looking for computer equipment or other technology they would prefer to navigate in English. English is the main language around the world for technology.”

To make its customers more comfortable with buying online, Fiera.com recently introduced a “click and chat” feature on the site.

“If you’re shopping and have a question on a particular product, you can click on the icon and a bilingual representative can talk you through the process. It’s online real-time,” Allen said.

She said the introduction of new technologies will help open up E-commerce to more people.

“There is a lot of discussion about the digital divide,” Allen said. “However, newer technologies are coming out on a daily basis with a whole new genre of information appliances, which are at much lower prices. We feel this will continue the Internet boom and in turn the E-commerce boom.”

Fiera.com was originally launched as a search engine in 1996 by Manuel Montero in Miami.

But then the company soon realized the great potential for E-commerce, Allen said.

Fiera.com’s instincts were right.

According to Forrester Research, global ‘Net commerce will hit $6.9 trillion in 2004.

– – –

Benefits of Telecommuting: On the national front, the Consumer Electronics Association has partnered with the International Telework Association & Council to promote the benefits of telecommuting. The two organizations will cooperate on certain research and public policy issues related to telecommuting. According to the Telework council, 19.6 million U.S. workers telecommuted in the third quarter of 1999, up from 4 million in 1990. The council reports that more than 50 percent of the information-related jobs in the United States could be done by telecommuting.

“The shortage of skilled labor in the work force is compelling employers to rethink traditional management styles,” council president John Edwards said. “Add to that the fact that teleworking can drive down costs, and it becomes clear that teleworking is undeniably the business model of the future.”

According to PC World magazine, $8,000 per employee can be saved in office space expenses each year through teleworking.

Bits & Bytes: Another San Diego cyber-firm is going tri-lingual. Introducing SportSitio Inc., which recently launched its sports-based site (www.sportsitio.com) for Argentine and U.S. Spanish-speaking Latin American sports fans. The SportSitio portal includes interactive sports entertainment and Latin American sports news and information. Visitors can view the site in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Parents who are worried about their kids’ information floating around in cyberspace can now turn to sandiego.com, Inc. The local company has launched a free online service (www.parentcheck.com) to help webmasters comply with the Child Online Protection Act, which requires webmasters to get permission from parents before collecting information from children aged 13 and under. Parents can also receive a free ParentCheck ID for each child. Kids will use the ParentCheck ID at ParentCheck enabled sites. Stac Software, Inc. has rebooted. The veteran San Diego tech company is now Previo, an E-support firm specializing in protecting data on desktops, laptops and mobile computing devices. And now, the moment you all have been waiting for: The new San Diego Business Journal Web site is up and running. Check it out at (www.sdbj.com).

Cool tech story ideas can be sent to asiedsma@sdbj.com.


CEO Plans Makeover for San Diego-based Derm Tech

Steven M. Lash is planning to give Derm Tech Intl. a makeover.

Lash, whose appointment to CEO and president of San Diego-based Derm Tech, formerly known as California Skin Research Institute, was announced March 23, and will be responsible for implementing the firm’s new business plan.

That encompasses the oversight of five newly created divisions: California Skin Research Institute, where consumer products are tested for safety and efficacy; DermPharm, which completes the safety trials performed by CSRI; DermNet, which focuses on dermatology and wound care; Strategic Advisory Services, a consulting group to companies; and DermPatch, a technology that could help the skin recover more quickly from allergy testing.

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