Anthrax Scare Gives Boost To E-CommerceAnthrax Scare Gives Boost To E-Commerce

Fear of anthrax-tainted mail is leading some companies and consumers to shun snail mail in favor of E-mail and E-commerce. That's put pressure on IT managers to increase bandwidth, add servers, and deploy management applications that can handle the growing volume of E-marketing campaigns and E-payments.

Companies are encouraging customers to use E-payments as a way to work around postal problems and fears. Potomac Electric Power Co., a Washington, D.C., utility that serves 720,000 customers, didn't receive any mail from Oct. 22 through Oct. 25 after anthrax was discovered in a local post office. The company saw a spike in the numbers of customers paying bills electronically--2,700 logons from Oct. 22 through

Oct. 24, compared with 1,900 over the same number of days the week before. But anthrax fears may not be the only reason for the increase; the utility had already begun an ad campaign to encourage E-payments.

As more business is conducted on the Web, some companies may turn to digital certificates to authenticate a user's identity, although several analysts say they don't expect a huge surge in their use. The anthrax scare is another reason for companies to use digital signatures, but it isn't the primary reason, says Frank Prince, a security analyst at Forrester Research. "I would expect companies that have already started investigating or piloting digital-signature technology to accelerate those initiatives."

Companies also may change the way they approach E-marketing initiatives. The Direct Marketing Association advises on its Web site that its 4,700 members include return addresses when sending direct mail and to send E-mail messages to customers alerting them that snail mail is coming.

Kronos Inc., a provider of time and attendance products, sent 4,000 direct-mail pieces to potential business buyers without a return address--a common practice because recipients wonder who sent it and open the mail. The let-ters included a sound chip, which when X-rayed caused some people to mistake it for a threatening package. Kronos says that it will put return addresses on future mailings and will continue to rely on E-mail.

Other companies are considering a combined approach. PennWell Corp., a media, research, and events company in Tulsa, Okla., may use postcards that direct people to its Web site so customers won't have to open mail.