Some DD on PLRX
planetrx.com
PLANETRX.COM INC (PLRX)
S-1 Filing (SEC form S1)
PlanetRx.com is a leading online healthcare destination for commerce, content and community. Our e-commerce website, www.PlanetRx.com, launched on March 18, 1999, provides a convenient, private and informative shopping experience. We offer products in six categories: prescription drugs; non- prescription drugs; personal care; beauty and spa; vitamins, herbs and nutrition; and medical supplies.
As individuals increasingly turn to the Internet to address their healthcare needs, we believe that up-to-date information in an easy-to- understand format is essential in making healthcare decisions. We provide in- depth information on symptoms, treatments and alternative care for over 100 disease categories, enabling consumers to find answers to their critical healthcare questions.
In addition, we own and operate a network of satellite websites that provide both content and an extended community where people interested in chronic health conditions can interact. These websites include diabetes.com, depression.com, obesity.com and alzheimers.com. The satellite websites have the same look and feel as our PlanetRx.com website.
The PlanetRx.com Market
Our market consists of prescription drugs, non-prescription drugs, personal care products, beauty and spa products, vitamins, herbs and nutrition products and medical supplies. Based on estimates from the National Association of Chain Drugstores (NACDS), we believe that the U.S. market for health and personal care products was approximately $175 billion in 1998.
To date, products within our market segments have been sold primarily through chain drugstores, mass market retailers and supermarkets, warehouse clubs, mail-order companies and independent drugstores and pharmacies. However, consumers are beginning to use the Internet to fulfill their healthcare needs. Consumers are using the Internet not only for online shopping, but also increasingly as a source for health and medical information and as a means to interact with other individuals with similar healthcare concerns. We believe that this trend is a result of the limitations of traditional distribution channels which are inconvenient, have limited selection, provide insufficient information and lack a forum for community.
The PlanetRx.com Healthcare Destination
Our websites offer a convenient shopping experience, extensive product selection, professionally-created content and online communities developed around specific health-related topics. We believe that we offer one of the largest selections of health and personal care products available on the Internet, with over 27,000 stock keeping units (SKUs). Our other key advantages include:
. access 24 hours a day, seven days a week from anywhere Internet access is available;
. direct shipping to the customer;
. online search capabilities for products and information;
. excellent customer service;
. order-tracking information;
. reliable and accessible healthcare information; and
. online forums for consumer interaction.
We operate our own distribution center and pharmacy in Memphis, Tennessee. Our pharmacy is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week with experienced pharmacists who are members of the American Pharmaceutical Association. We are licensed to ship prescription products in all U.S. states and territories.
To enhance the customer shopping experience, we strive to provide personalized and confidential information, including:
. e-mail reminders to customers for prescription or non-prescription product refills;
. answers to consumers' e-mailed questions within 24 hours of receipt;
. newsletters to notify customers of special offers and new product announcements;
. a level of privacy that is difficult to achieve in traditional stores;
. a secure environment for the storage of a customer's medical, purchasing and payment information; and
. the ability to store product preferences, allowing customers to quickly purchase or reorder these items.
The PlanetRx.com Strategy
Our strategy is to attract new customers, develop customer loyalty and promote repeat purchases by:
. continuing to build our brand in order to be recognized as a premier healthcare destination on the Internet;
. continuing to build premier content and community websites to enhance commerce and other revenue opportunities;
. maintaining an independent distribution center and pharmacy to retain strict control over logistics and to provide excellent customer service;
. utilizing technology to improve the customer shopping experience;
. continuing to expand our product offerings; and
. developing strategic relationships to further e-commerce opportunities.
To further our business strategy, we have entered into and will continue to pursue key strategic relationships, such as:
. marketing relationships with online partners including AOL, Yahoo!, iVillage, Women.com, XOOM.com and Netcentives;
. advertising relationships, such as our agreement with News Corporation for television and other traditional media advertising; and
. disease state management sponsorships on our websites.
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Only 2 of these are internet drug stores by name!
Retail (Drugs) companies:
Accuhealth, Inc.
CVS Corporation
Drug Emporium
Drugstore.com, Inc.
Duane Reade Inc.
Futurebiotics, Inc.
Herbalife International
Horizon Pharmacies, Inc.
Longs Drug Stores Corp.
NCS HealthCare, Inc.
Natural Health Trends
Nutrition For Life Int'l
Omni Nutraceuticals, Inc.
Omnicare, Incorporated
Perfumania, Inc.
Perfumania.Com Inc.
Phar-Mor, Inc
PlanetRx.com, Inc.
Rite Aid Corporation
Scottsdale Scientific Inc
Twinlab Corporation
Walgreen Company
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malltoyou.com Internet Supermall..."We Bring It All To You" @ malltoyou
Your Online Pharmacy
malltoyou.com
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Insiders control approx. 35%. Express Scripts owns 20%, Benchmark Capital owns 11%,
Markas Holding B.V. owns 6%. Initial Public Offering 10/7/99, 6M shares @ $16 by Goldman,
Sachs & Co.
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To further our business strategy, we have entered into and will continue to pursue key strategic relationships, such as:
. marketing relationships with online partners including AOL, Yahoo!, iVillage, Women.com, XOOM.com and Netcentives;
. advertising relationships, such as our agreement with News Corporation for television and other traditional media advertising |
