Hilton Hotels Corporation and SkyMall Inc. Announce Agreement to Develop Joint Internet Commerce Initiative
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. & PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE FEATURES)-- May 31, 2000--Hilton Hotels Corporation (NYSE:HLT) and SkyMall, Inc. (Nasdaq:SKYM) today announced they have reached an agreement to develop co-branded retail and custom shopping solutions from Hilton's corporate Web site.
The travelers e-shop, which is anticipated to debut at the beginning of June, will consist of a customized Internet shopping site from www.hilton.com. This "virtual mall" will allow customers to make purchases from a wide array of SkyMall's premier merchants. Both Hilton and SkyMall will promote the travelers e-shop program through newsletters and brochures, e-mails, direct mail campaigns and other targeted communications to their respective customers.
"We are very pleased to have the opportunity to join forces with Hilton, an undisputed leader in the travel industry, and provide their customers with our unique assortment of high-quality merchandise and logo gear," said Thomas Edwards, president of SkyMall Ventures, Inc. (a SkyMall subsidiary). "Our electronic commerce experience and sophisticated technology infrastructure allows us to provide a significant added value to Hilton's electronic program.
"The Hilton agreement is right on strategy for SkyMall. It increases our ability to encourage repeat purchase in a highly desirable customer base. Furthermore, this new relationship continues our business-to-business initiatives in electronic commerce, while sharing our core competencies without incurring significant customer acquisition costs."
Under the same agreement, Durham & Company (a SkyMall subsidiary) will establish a separate Internet portal for meeting planners, businesses, associations and other organizations to purchase incentive awards and order corporate logo merchandise for the thousands of meetings and conventions held at Hilton's portfolio of properties each year.
"Hilton continues to provide leading-edge technology and services for use by all of its constituents," said Robert E. Dirks, senior vice president -- marketing for Hilton Hotels Corporation. "By joining forces with SkyMall and its subsidiaries we will add greater value to our site visitors and create new and innovative e-business initiatives that will add other dimensions to our customers' Internet experiences." |
