ECOMMERCE
With nearly 8 out of 10 Web surfers expected to shop online this holiday season, etailers may have a tough time handling the hits. But while Web merchants struggle with the predictable traffic spikes, server crashes, and other troubling ghosts of Christmas present, three innovative online services point to the promise of eshopping seasons yet to come.
Tiny Bubbles Earlier this year, Amazon.com bought San Francisco-based Alexa Internet, a company cofounded by Brewster Kahle that archives the Web and generates a text box displaying metadata about sites.
This holiday season, Alexa will let some of its users beta-test Amazon.com zBubbles, pop-up windows that display data about any product onscreen (the hard launch is slated for early 2000). Within a zBubble are links to product reviews, sites that offer the item at a better price, and rival products others recommend. There are also clickthroughs to buy the product from Amazon, featuring the popular 1-Click option. This means that any zBubble-enabled site essentially becomes a display window for Amazon.
Stock Stuffers You can simultaneously shop and move the market by joining the Online Shopping Challenge (www.internetstocks.com), sponsored by BancBoston Robertson Stephens. BBRS's resource for tech investors is dangling the grand prize of a $10,000 online shopping spree in front of users willing to provide feedback on the etailers they frequent: Did the package arrive in time? And - to see whether a merchant is actually using the Net for target marketing - did you receive offers tailored to your interests? The survey's weekly results will be made available to investors, who may decide to buy or sell shares of a company based on the information.
"It's the same thing I used to do when I'd go into five malls in two hours," says BBRS senior etailing analyst Lauren Cooks Levitan, who cooked up the Challenge. "We expect the results to move stocks."
No Returns "More than half of gift-giving is in the presentation," says Mike Lannon, CEO of Send.com, a gift service for professionals looking to impress. The Waltham, Massachusetts-based company sells exquisitely presented bagatelles: spa treatments, fine wine, golf lessons with a pro. With Send.com, you can even set your broker up with a Porsche for the weekend, Vivaldi CD included. It's the ultimate service for those who need to "remember" clients. And for those just getting the hang of this Internet thing, a gift from Send.com makes newbies appear Net savvy. Send.com already has competition: A company called Camdens (www.camdens.com) lets recipients choose from a preset array of gifts, though the all-important presentation lacks Send.com's flourish.
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