Webvan: Дотамдық кәсіпорынның құлдырауы

Bankrupt technology company
Long after the failure of Webvan, the concept of companies delivering groceries very quickly grew from about 2020, and several companies were vying for business from dark stores.

Webvan was founded in the heyday of the dot com bubble in 1996 by Louis Borders, who also co founded the Borders Group in 1971.

The company's investors pressured it to grow very fast to obtain first mover advantage. This rapid growth was cited as one of the reasons for the downfall of the company. Webvan started taking orders in the San Francisco Bay Area in June 1999. Webvan placed a $1 billion order with Bechtel to build its warehouses, and bought a fleet of delivery trucks. In 2000, Webvan bought HomeGrocer, a competitor that was also losing money, for $1.2 billion in stock. At its peak in 2000, Webvan had $178.5 million in sales but it also had $525.4 million in expenses. Sequoia later invested another $50 million, Softbank Capital later invested $160.3 million, and Goldman Sachs' venture arm invested $50 million. Up to that time, the company had reported cumulative revenue of $395,000 and cumulative net losses of more than $50 million.

None of Webvan's senior executives or major investors had any management experience in the supermarket industry, including its CEO George Shaheen, who had resigned as head of Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), a management consulting firm, to join the venture. When the company filed bankruptcy in July 2001, Shaheen was an unsecured creditor. Shaheen resigned in April 2001, while the company was on the verge of shutting down.

The company lost over $800 million and shut down in June 2001, filing for bankruptcy and laying off 2,000 employees. As part of its shutdown process, all non perishable food was donated to local food banks.

A large number of Webvan's colored plastic shipping tubs are now used for household storage. The company's distinctively shaped vans, now repainted, are still seen. Some executives of the company went to work for Amazon. com. From about 2020 many companies were vying to provide ultrafast delivery, similar to the Webvan concept.