Monday November 29, 6:35 pm Eastern Time
INTERVIEW - Sears planning larger online presence
By Anna Driver
CHICAGO, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The chairman of Sears, Roebuck & Co. (NYSE:S - news)
said Monday the retailer plans to step up investments in its e-commerce site.
``We have been very pleasantly surprised by the number of visitors to our Web site, by the the number of those visitors who go
deeper for information, and the number of those visitors who actually complete transactions in that environment,' Arthur
Martinez, chairman and chief executive of Sears, told Reuters.
Martinez also said sales for the Thanksgiving weekend, which marks the start of the holiday sales season, were above the
company's plan.
``We had a more than satisfactory Thanksgiving weekend, well ahead of our plan,' he said. ``The holiday season shapes up to
be a very positive one for both sales and profits for us.'
The company is due to report November sales on Thursday.
Sears, which is the nation's second largest retailer, will significantly increase investment in its e-commerce site in 2000, and will
add other product categories such as lawn products and consumer electronics in 2000, Martinez said.
``Sales will be growing rapidly in percentage terms in the short term, but our investment and our spending behind the Internet
business is going to grow even faster,' Martinez said.
Sears sells appliances, appliance parts and tools on it Web site, located at www.sears.com.
On Monday, the company expanded its Internet tool offering to include 120 brands other than its Craftsman line of tools. The
retailing giant also said customers are now able to apply for instant credit online. If approved, the credit can be used right away
for online purchases, the company said.
Sears e-commerce site could generate $100 million in revenues in the next year or two, Martinez said.
In 1998, Sears reported $36.7 billion in merchandise and service revenues. |
