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	Webvan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Webvan was founded in the heyday of the dot-com boom in the late 1990s, and its original investors encouraged it to build rapidly its own infrastructure to deliver groceries in a number of markets.
		The mistake Webvan made was trying to build everything on their own, instead of partnering with existing supermarket chains, wholesalers, or a network of small chains or independent grocers.
		Webvan's legacy consists of thousands of colored plastic shipping bins for groceries that are still sitting in consumers' basements and closets, and a lucrative severance package[2] for ex-CEO Shaheen.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Webvan (452 words)

	Webvan announces shutdown, Chapter 11 filing - Jul. 9, 2001
		Webvan also said it will not resume operations but will seek to sell its assets, and that it expects its stock to be delisted from the Nasdaq stock market.
		Webvan, which began selling groceries over the Internet about two years ago and was never profitable, blamed declining orders in the second quarter and difficulty in raising more cash to stay alive.
		When he left Webvan in April, the company was required by the terms of its employment agreement with Shaheen to pay him $375,000 a year for the rest of his life.
	money.cnn.com /2001/07/09/technology/webvan (699 words)

	Webvan
		Webvan's technologically advanced distribution center is highly automated and designed to provide scalability and to create significant cost savings compared with traditional supermarkets and existing online competitors.
		Webvan's future will be directly dependent upon the reaction of the consumer to the new service that it provides.
		Webvan's model of high fixed-costs and low variable-costs, while risky, is designed to maximize scalability and efficiency for the long-term.
	www-db.stanford.edu /pub/gio/CS545/CS545I-2000/doros.html (934 words)

	Strategos: What Killed Webvan
		Webvan's rapid rise and fall from IPO to RIP has elicited a certain sameness in news stories covering the company's recent bankruptcy protection proceedings announcement.
		Webvan invested in infrastructure the way the ill- fated Iridium venture launched satellites, burning through more than $800 million without pausing long enough to test the basic viability of its business model.
		The reason: In spite of its claim to virtuality, Webvan was a "brick" masquerading as a "click," not only building its brand from scratch but hellbent on building its own billion-dollar, 26-city network of warehouses to serve its (as yet non-existent) consumer clientele.
	www.strategos.com /articles/webvan.htm (789 words)

	Where Webvan went wrong
		Webvan spent huge sums on high-tech warehouses that were designed to revolutionize distribution, but they turned out to be mostly a waste of money.
		It's entirely possible that Webvan was buying inferior produce in an attempt to save money at that point, but one of our drivers said that orders were being picked by temporary employees with no incentive to do a good job.
		The company was still losing money at the time Webvan came knocking, but customer loyalty in Seattle was extremely high, they had great brand recognition, and they hadn't lost sight of the fact that their customer service had to win over people who were utterly accustomed to visiting physical grocery stores every week.
	www.strom.com /awards/255.html (1176 words)

	USATODAY.com - Webvan closes down, files for bankruptcy (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-10)
		Webvan had warned that it needed an additional $25 million by March 2002 to stay open, but a downturn in customer orders during the past three months forced the company to burn through even more money than management anticipated.
		Webvan listed liabilities totaling $96.5 million as of March 31 in its most recent quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
		Webvan dealt with 75 distributors and 500 vendors, according to its SEC filings.
	www.usatoday.com /money/tech/2001-07-09-webvan-closes.htm (621 words)

	Bankrupt Webvan Raises $3 Million
		Webvan, based in Foster City, Calif., filed for bankruptcy protection last month, ending an online grocery shopping experiment that generated 750,000 customers in seven large cities, but never a profit.
		Webvan operated a 360,000 square-foot distribution center in Suwanee, northeast of Atlanta, and a smaller center in Lawrenceville.
		She spent $3,750 for a freezer designed as a Webvan truck as a birthday gift for her 2-year-old son, who became enamored with helping the company's drivers unload the family's groceries.
	www.washingtonpost.com /wp-srv/aponline/20010808/aponline183946_000.htm (306 words)

	Webvan's Cupboard Is Bare
		Webvan CEO George Shaheen, formerly the chief of Andersen Consulting, resigned earlier this year, and one-by-one, operations in Dallas, Atlanta and Sacramento, Calif., were closed in a desperate attempt to stem losses and conserve cash.
		Webvan, along with rival HomeGrocer.com, which it acquired in June 2000, counted VC firms Benchmark Capital; Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers; and Sequoia Capital, as well as Goldman Sachs, former Netscape chief Jim Barksdale and Amazon, among its investors.
		Webvan went public in November 1999, and its shares reached a high of $34 shortly thereafter.
	www.thestandard.com /article/0,1902,27764,00.html (818 words)

	Webvan
		Examines Webvan's operations and the processes by which it delivers groceries that were ordered from the Internet to customers' homes.
		Recounts Webvan's history from founding through early 2001 and concentrates on the unique approaches to warehousing, delivery, scheduling, and to a lesser extent, marketing and information technology.
		Webvan's business model relied heavily on properly designed and executed operations, and it appears clear that the company's operations were neither.
	harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu /b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml;jsessionid=QW5PBZY3DHGIEAKRGWDR5VQBKE0YIIPS?id=602037&referral=8636&_requestid=1394 (235 words)

	TheStreet.com: Crunch Time: Even in Good Times, Webvan Suffers. What About Bad?
		Similarly, Webvan is learning the hard way that pointing and clicking simply isn't the preferred way most grocery shoppers want to buy celery, cheesecakes and that choice cut of beef.
		Webvan does not expect any of its distribution centers to operate at designed capacity for several years following their commercial launch, and Webvan cannot assure you that any distribution center will ever operate at or near its designed capacity.
		Webvan alone raised a staggering $796 million, $403 million of that (net of commissions to its bankers) from the public.
	www.thestreet.com /comment/siliconstreet/1208354.html (1018 words)

	ZoomInfo Web Summary: Webvan
		Webvan provides customers an extensive selection of the finest products available, from farm-fresh produce to favorite national brands, combined with the ease and convenience of shopping from home via the Internet.
		Webvan's convenient prepared meals and Webvan@Work's office-catering meals and party platters are prepared by our chefs using only the finest ingredients.
		Webvan's state-of-the-art marketplace is divided into dedicated climate-controlled areas to maintain every product at its appropriate temperature, humidity, and light levels.
	www.zoominfo.com /Search/CompanyDetail.aspx?CompanyID=41763180&cs=QECfUFse4 (421 words)

	What Webvan Could Have Learned from Tesco - Knowledge@Wharton
		Webvan wanted to redesign the grocery industry s infrastructure to make it more efficient; Tesco used the industry s infrastructure to keep costs low.
		Webvan sold 25 million shares priced at $15 each, but so heady was the buzz surrounding its IPO that the stock soared to a short-lived high of $34 on its first day of trading, giving Webvan a market capitalization of $7.6 billion.
		Webvan s second mistake was to try and reinvent the whole infrastructure that the grocery industry has evolved over the last 100 years.
	knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu /articles.cfm?catid=7&articleid=448 (3698 words)

	Webvan Group Forms Strategic Alliance with Bechtel to Accelerate National Expansion
		Webvan's distribution centers, highly automated facilities that enable the distribution of food and drug products, are designed to process product volumes equivalent to approximately 20 supermarkets.
		Webvan is scheduled to begin operations in its second market, Atlanta, Georgia, in early 2000.
		Webvan's experienced management team, intelligent systems, industry-leading partners and powerful backing will enable the company to quickly replicate its successful model in top markets across the country.
	www.bechtel.com /newsarticles/175.asp (545 words)

	TheStreet.com: A Special Delivery Direct From Webvan's Roadshow
		Webvan, for everyone else not invited to the physical and virtual roadshow presentations hosted this week by Goldman Sachs and the start-up's six other investment banks, is the Foster City, Calif.-based company founded by retail veteran Louis Borders.
		Webvan has disclosed it will open its next "Webstore" in Atlanta, joining one already in operation in the San Francisco Bay area.
		Webvan's SEC filing discloses that part of its billion-dollar deal with construction behemoth Bechtel Group of San Francisco to build its distribution centers involves Bechtel receiving warrants to buy Webvan stock.
	www.thestreet.com /comment/siliconstreet/791136.html (1312 words)

	Webvan delivers its last word: Bankruptcy \| CNET News.com
		Webvan is donating all perishable foods to local food banks, while nonperishable items including some frozen and packaged foods will be returned to the vendors or sold as part of the company's liquidation, Webvan spokesman Bud Grebey said Monday.
		Until late 2000, Webvan was still growing, with the company acquiring HomeGrocer, one of its leading rivals, last summer in an all-stock deal worth $1.2 billion at the time.
		Webvan said that despite its ability to cut operating losses, its order volume declined "considerably" during the quarter ended June 30, leaving it hard-pressed to find additional capital.
	news.com.com /2100-1017-269594.html?legacy=cnet (1197 words)

	Sweeping Webvan into the Dustbin of History (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-10)
		Webvan ignored the century-long evolution of "common-goods" retailing, which includes groceries, general merchandise, home improvement products, and gasoline.
		Webvan and other online grocers are a case study of the perils of historical innocence.
		Webvan, by contrast, invested heavily in technology and automation (i.e., fixed costs) to drive down labor content (i.e., variable costs) in picking and packing.
	www.strategy-business.com /press/enewsarticle/22494?pg=all (1203 words)

	CRM News: News: Webvan Shuts Down, Plans Bankruptcy Filing
		Webvan said about 2,000 workers lost their jobs as a result of the shutdown.
		Webvan, which has been exiting markets and selling assets in an attempt to stay afloat, had previously said it had enough cash to survive through the end of the year, but would need as much as $25 million to keep going until the first half of next year, its target for profitability.
		Tesco of the United Kingdom recently announced a partnership with U.S. supermarket chain Safeway, and Royal Ahold of the Netherlands last year came to the rescue of Peapod (Nasdaq: PPOD), a Webvan competitor that was struggling to stay afloat.
	www.crmbuyer.com /story/11830.html (695 words)

	University of Pennsylvania : Research at Penn : Business :: Food Shopping Online: Webvan’s Failure, Tesco’s Success
		Webvan wanted to redesign the grocery industry’s infrastructure to make it more efficient; Tesco used the industry’s infrastructure to keep costs low.
		Webvan’s second mistake was to try and reinvent the whole infrastructure that the grocery industry has evolved over the last 100 years.
		Webvan’s third mistake was to choose San Francisco as its starting point.
	www.upenn.edu /researchatpenn/article.php?207&bus (3498 words)

	Webvan goes under / Online grocer shuts down -- $830 million lost, 2,000 workers fired
		Webvan's board of directors voted to close the company on Friday, but the company didn't begin to close its distribution centers until Sunday.
		Webvan recently pulled out of the Atlanta and Dallas markets and drastically scaled back its Sacramento operations in an effort to conserve its dwindling cash reserves.
		Webvan had warned that it needed an additional $25 million to stay open, but a downturn in customer orders during the past three months forced the company to burn through even more money than management anticipated.
	sfgate.com /cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/07/09/MN196371.DTL (1415 words)

	WEBVAN DELIVERS THE GOODS / For e-tailer, today it's food, but tomorrow -- the world
		Don't tell the lobsters swimming in a tank at Webvan Group's Oakland distribution center, or the cilantro bathing in the mist of its humidity-controlled storeroom, but Webvan is not a grocery company.
		Webvan is so protective of its carousel technology that it will not allow them to be photographed, although the principle is the same as the circular, automated hangers used by many dry cleaners.
		Webvan won't disclose the number of incorrect orders it delivers, but anecdotal evidence suggests that the problem is not uncommon.
	www.sfgate.com /cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/01/24/BU5922.DTL (1463 words)

	CNN.com - Technology - Webvan adds personal touch to online grocery service - November 3, 2000
		Each time a Webvan customer visits the site, she's one click away from viewing her last order, as well as one click from a page featuring every item she's ever ordered from Webvan.
		According to Mayya, Webvan is in the process of evaluating several such personalization tools and expects to roll out real-time recommendation features on its site in the near future, though he wouldn't say exactly when.
		Webvan aims to personalize its grocery store to the point where vegetarian shoppers see only meat-free products, and kosher patrons browse only rabbinically sanctioned victuals.
	archives.cnn.com /2000/TECH/computing/11/03/personal.webvan.idg (1061 words)

	Forbes.com: Disaster Of The Day: Webvan (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-10)
		In a preview of its fourth-quarter earnings, which will be released on Jan. 25, Webvan admits it will miss fourth-quarter revenue estimates, with sales for that period reaching just $84 million.
		Webvan needs to contain what it spends to warehouse, pick, pack and ship the food and toiletries it deliveries to people's doorsteps, according to Prudential Securities analyst Mark Rowen, who adds that the company has consistently refused to reveal exactly how much it spends on fulfillment costs.
		Because today is the thirtieth straight day that Webvan has traded at under a dollar, the Foster City, Calif.-based company is expecting notification that it will be delisted from the Nasdaq.
	www.forbes.com /2001/01/10/0110disaster.html (421 words)

	TheStreet.com: Back Up the Webvan and Load It Up, This El Cheapo Has Legs
		Most of my correspondents who diss Webvan's future point to the traditional low margins in selling groceries -- the big chains earn about a 2% margin -- as their basis for thinking Webvan is a train wreck in the making.
		The best phrase I've heard so far to describe Webvan's business, and those of its competitors, is that they're the retailing equivalent of telecom's "last mile" companies -- the firms that want to own that critical last-mile connection to your home and pocket.
		Webvan and its cohorts are working to establish that personal relationship -- just order on the Web, specify a 30-minute window for a delivery time, then sit back and gloat over how good you feel about escaping the "grocery store experience."
	thestreet.netscape.com /comment/techsavvy/954217.html (1152 words)

	Wired News: Why Webvan Drove Off a Cliff
		In the first quarter of the year, Webvan had reported a net loss of $217 million and an accumulated deficit of $830 million.
		On another obvious note, Webvan was also too optimistic about people's willingness to ditch traditional grocery stores in favor of something new and different.
		Their early enthusiasm pushed Webvan to expand more quickly than was wise.
	www.wired.com /news/business/0,1367,45098,00.html (936 words)

	Webvan Promo Boosts Average Customer Purchase
		Webvan has decided to extend by one week what it says has been a very effective promotion with luxury goods site Ashford.com.
		Foster City-based Webvan originally intended to end the promotion on November 17 but decided Thursday to extend the deadline to November 24 (which is the date customers must be able to get delivery of -- not just order -- goods from Webvan).
		He declined to say whether Webvan pays Ashford any cash for its part in the program but did say Webvan typically pays $25 or less for per new customer acquisition in its partnership deals.
	siliconvalley.internet.com /news/print.php/514061 (226 words)

	Webvan Group buys HomeGrocer.com in $1.2B deal- - Jun. 26, 2000
		About 138 million Webvan shares will be traded for all currently outstanding shares of HomeGrocer.com (HOMG: Research, Estimates), giving HomeGrocer.com shareholders 28.3 percent of the combined company.
		Webvan Chief Financial Officer Bob Swan said the combined companies had $650 million in cash as of the end of May. The acquisition will save $20 million to $30 million in headquarter and marketing costs for 2001, he said.
		Webvan had 87,000 registered customer by the end of first quarter that will grow to 264,000 because of the acquisition.
	money.cnn.com /2000/06/26/deals/webvan (839 words)

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