1 .		Companies that sell products directly to consumers over the Web need to measure the effectiveness of the Web as a sales channel. Web sites are often expensive to build and maintain and firms want to know if they are getting a good return on their investment. One way of measuring Web site effectiveness is by analyzing new customer acquisition costs. In other words, how much must the company spend in advertising, marketing, or promotional discounts to turn an on-line browser into an on-line buyer? Are the firm's customer acquisition costs higher or lower than for comparable companies selling online? (The average new customer acquisition cost for companies that only sell online is $42 per customer, although such costs may be higher or lower for certain types of businesses.) If new customer acquisition costs continue to rise, this could be an indicator that the company is facing higher marketing costs because of increased competition. Here is the information on quarterly customer acquisition costs for four different Web companies. New Customer Acquisition Costs July 1, 2002 to July 1, 2003 Company Q3'02 Q4'02 Q1'03  Q2'03 Internet Software City 81.82 84.70   92.98 142.65 Online Garage Sale 8.79 9.22 10.60   7.73 Books and More Books 24.77 26.88 31.20 36.17 Online Travel and Vacation 5.11 5.14 5.98 5.61 Are any of these companies experiencing customer acquisition problems? Explain your answer. What can companies facing competitive pressure do to lower their customer acquisition costs and compete more effectively in an online environment?