A decade ago, the Internet was practically unheard of by most people. Today, the Internet is one of the most powerful technologies throughout the world (Herrera, 2008).   Most marketing managers have realised the importance of the Internet for creating business and introducing their products and services globally (Fletcher and McNaughton, 2004: 266).  Consequently, e-business tactics have become an integral part of the promotion strategies of businesses.  E-business tactics include the use of websites; forums, chat rooms and news groups; e-mail; screensavers, themes, downloads and wall paper; online virtual tests; beta sites and teaser campaigns.  This study explores the influence of these e-business tactics on the sales growth and customer relations management (CRM) success in businesses.

 The empirical study was conducted on a sample of manufacturing firms in three industries: motorcar (n=193), high-technology (n=196) and food (n=183).  The data analyses include structural equation modelling (SEM) and multiple regression analysis.

 The empirical results show that e-business tactics exert a significant influence both on sales growth (0.357, p < 0.01) and CRM effectiveness (0.588, p < 0.01) in the combined sample of the three selected industries.  As far as the individual industries are concerned, the results reveal the following, among others:

-       Beta sites, as a third-party agreement strategy, exerts a negative and positive effect respectively on the sales growth of motorcar and high-technology  manufacturers, but no effect on the sales growth of food manufacturing firms;

-       E-business tactics exert a positive influence on the sales growth of high-technology and food manufacturing firms, but no effect on the sales growth of motorcar manufacturers;

-       E-business tactics exerts a positive influence on the CRM success of all three industries, but no effect on the sales growth of motorcar manufacturers;

-       Linking direct selling on the internet with pricing tactics such as saving packs and "buy-one-get-one-free" tactics, collectively named e-save tactics in this study, reduces the CRM success in the motorcar industry, but increases the CRM success in the high-technology and food manufacturing industries; and  

-       E-save tactics increase sales growth in the food manufacturing industry, but have no effect on the sales growth of high-technology and motorcar manufacturers.

 The managerial implications of the above-mentioned findings are discussed in the paper.