EW YORK (AP)--Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), the nation's biggest retailer, relaunched its Web site on New Year's Day with an expanded selection of clothes, books and appliances, along with such new features as e-mail reminders about anniversaries and birthdays.
Though Wal-Mart has had a Web site for several years, the revised version is expected to help the company take away business from Internet retailers such as Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and eToys Inc. (ETYS).
Wal-Mart has several advantages over online rivals. Foremost, it will be able to leverage its tremendous size by advertising the site in its stores and shopping circulars.
Also, consumers that want to return goods bought online will have the choice of doing so at any Wal-Mart store. Some online retailers, including some with offline stores, force consumers to pay shipping costs to return items for refund or exchange.
Wal-Mart's redesigned Web site include more than 600,000 items, twice as many as the company had online a year ago. The site allows shoppers to do everything from booking airline reservations to refilling prescription drugs. It also has a feature that lets consumer compare various items by price and amenities.
In addition, consumers who get their photos processed at Wal-Mart now have the option to have their pictures delivered electronically.
Industry analysts have said Wal-Mart's new site has the potential to revolutionize e-commerce because the shopping behemoth is already so widely known. Wal-Mart has a reputation for keeping prices down and has sophisticated method of collecting consumer and product information.
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Alex Clarke said prices on the Web site will match those found in Wal-Mart's stores. Wal-Mart has 1,821 discount stores, 650 SuperCenters and 453 Sam's Clubs in the U.S. It also has more than 850 stores overseas.
Wal-Mart, Bentonville, Ark., said there was no particular reason why it chose Jan. 1 as the date for its relaunch. It said it was not concerned about year 2000 concerns or meeting demands of holiday shoppers.
Wal-Mart refused to discuss forecasts for online sales, though it acknowledged until now Internet sales have been a minimal part of its overall business. |
