E-commerce is no longer the wave of the future; it is the way many businesses operate today. Industrial companies, contractors and homeowners are already widely using the Internet to procure products. While these rental transactions still provide the customer with advice and operating information on a personal level, these types of information can now be readily accessible via the Internet.

In the coming years, contractors and industrial companies will expect their rental suppliers to provide information such as inventory listings, rates, product specifications and others over the Internet. They will also expect to be able to make their rental orders or reservations online. More importantly, rental customers will look to the Internet to access their outstanding contracts, to calculate rental rates and the expected return date, and to view their outstanding account.

The large contractor rental chains are either planning to make or already have made some of these capabilities available to their customers. Some independent rental operators don't, but they will need to offer these services or risk becoming non-competitive in meeting the customer's needs.

And, in a few years, the homeowner will expect the same types of online services because they will make more purchases over the Internet. I expect that in about five years, about 25 percent of a general rental business' transactions will be initiated over the Internet.