eRetail Association Newsletter
March 9th 2001
from Nigel Fenwick, President, eRetail Association

Welcome to the March e-newsletter from the International eRetail Association & eRetailNews.

In this month's newsletter:

• March madness savings
• Feature Story: The Online Retailing World Is Looking More And More Like An Episode Of "Survivor"
• Retailtekweb.Com Offer
• News Snippets
• Pure Play Vs Multi-Channel Perspectives
• Conferences

Note: All external links will open a new browser window by default

MARCH MADNESS - SAVE, SAVE, SAVE!

FEATURE STORY
The online retailing world is looking more and more like an episode of "Survivor"

The dominance of traditional retailers in the online world is after all, hardly surprising; traditional retailers have a number of advantages over their etailing cousins:

Brand recognition Merchandising expertise Physical presence Established infrastructure Established vendor relationships The ability to provide in-store services (e.g. pickups and returns) Meanwhile, many etailers have seen much of their initial advantage eroded as they have struggled to implement advanced distribution facilities that were never envisaged in those early business plans. Compounding this problem were unrealistic expectations of market penetration, which failed to take into account the noise in the market caused by so many competitors. Although some etailers still have the advantage of a broader assortment, they are often no longer able to offer a price advantage over their click and mortar rivals.

One of the biggest problems for etailers has been their inability to create recognizable brand identities. Without a strong brand, it is difficult for shoppers to personally identify with a particular store. The result - brand switching on a massive scale.

For etailers, the most crucial question is: What is our survival strategy? Read more online.

RetailTekWeb.com offer

If you have a product you would like to list in the directory, you can get 10% off your listing fee during March by using the following discount code: "NL10"

http://www.retailtekweb.com 

NEWS SNIPPETS

Ritzcamera.Com Becomes The Premier E-Commerce Provider For Shutterport.Com 

MessageMedia Partners with Veripost to Offer E-mail Change of Address Services

Kewill's Enterprise-based Technology To be Used in FedEx's Ship Manager Solutions

Overton's selects ecometry to power its multi-channel retail operation

Tomax and Oracle Deliver Web-based Solution for Retailers 

Commission Junction revises its merchant agreement for affiliate management

Kewill Systems has added same-day shipping service compliance functionality to its Kewill.Net solutions

RetailExchange.com will be providing online escrow services through Pitney Bowes. http://

PlanetRx is referring customers to drugstore.com after announcing it will close its virtual doors. 

REI's online business reported sales of $92 million in 2000. 

GroceryStreet.com attempts to define an online grocery business with a difference. 

NetRadio offers digital downloads of music, DVD and VHS movies, video games, as well as music CDs and cassettes. 

CyberRebate.com is extending its online shopping discounts to wireless customers. 

Albertson's joins the Meals.com network, offering customers a range of Meals.com services. 

Ashford.com will acquire the online watch retailer Watchnetwork.com. The acquisition is expected to expand Ashford.com's direct relationships with leading watch brands. 

AddSomeSpice.com officially launched its new lingerie, intimate apparel and novelty store. 

The NPD Group, Inc. has launched a new Internet initiative making marketing information available to business decision-makers via the Web. 

PartsAmerica.com is partnering with traditional retailers to offer local offline pickup and returns. 

SmarterKids.com has unveiled its enhanced "My Kid's Store," a personalized store that was created based on the individual education needs of a specific child. 

digiMine services are being used by Nordstrom.com to enhance the online shopping experience. 

Using Preview Systems Inc.'s electronic software distribution platform, Amazon.com is now offering its customers software downloads. 

SonyStyle.com uses a new personalized recommendation service to guide shoppers to products that meet their needs. 

WinesPlus.com offers many of the 2,800 wineries nationwide an e-commerce solution for customers to order their products, while the wineries control the fulfillment. 

SmarterKids.com and Homeroom.com have created an alliance under which SmarterKids.com will provide Homeroom.com access to specific products aligned to Homeroom's specific database of skills. 

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PURE PLAY VS MULTI-CHANNEL PERSPECTIVES

This report is now available online for $15 for a limited time. That's over 69% off the regular non-subscriber rate of $49.

eRETAIL CONFERENCE DISCOUNTS

eRetail Association members receive discounts to the following events:

(Don't miss my presentation at eTail Solutions on Mar 26th - "Hunters and Gatherers in an Online World")

CALL FOR SPEAKERS: DOTCOM ASIA would like to hear from potential speakers at this international conference and exhibition on e-commerce. If you are interested in speaking at the conference, please use this link for more information: http://www.eretailnews.com/conferences/speakers.htm

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Be happy,

Nigel Fenwick :)
International eRetail Association
 http://www.eretailassociation.org
 http://www.eretailnews.com 

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