Digital Planet reckons it started selling electronic goods online about ten years too early. Now, it believes, is the right time to stop.

The Johannesburg company isn’t pulling out of the e-commerce business. Far from it. It’s focussing on developing and managing online retailing businesses on behalf of other companies. Digital Planet already runs internet stores for several big-name retailers like Hewlett-Packard, Toys R Us and Reggies. Several consumer groups, including Vodacom and Discovery, also contract Digital Planet to help them operate ‘virtual stores’. Vodacom, Discovery and the like use virtual stores to market electronic goods and other merchandise to their customers in order to forge closer ties with their clients and provide loyalty incentives. Digital Planet not only runs the internet portal of such stores on behalf of customers, but also offers procurement, logistics and client support.