I assume that some of this pop today is due to this article/newsrelease from early this morning. If anyone bothers to read it, I think it clearly is AMZN's death knell. Brutal price competition and as many bears predicted, one stop massive virtual malls, easy price comparison. AMZN will never be the walmart of the internet, just a nice niche book and cd seller -- if it survives.
LP
Thursday July 30, 6:33 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
The Dialog Corporation Launches E-commerce Strategy
- Leading Online Information Provider Leverages Proven Data Indexing, Search, Retrieval and Alerting Technologies in
Business-to-Business and Consumer E-Commerce Markets -
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 30, 1998-- Leveraging its leading global market position in the provision of online
information, as well as extensive service and technology strengths in electronic data indexing, searching, retrieval and alerting systems, The Dialog Corporation
plc (''Dialog'') (NASDAQ:DIALY - news) unveiled today its plans to aggressively target the electronic commerce (''e-commerce'') marketplace. With a
strategic focus on business-to-business applications that leverage Dialog's service, alliance and customer base, the Company is also targeting the consumer
e-commerce arena with today's launch of Planet Retail (http://www.planetretail.com), an Internet-based comparative shopping service for consumers.
The Dialog Corporation is a leading global provider of online information, with over 20,000 corporate customers in over 120 countries, and established
relationships with a number of strategic alliance partners around the world. The Dialog Corporation's InfoSort(R) indexing technology enables data from a
multiplicity of sources to be indexed to and therefore searchable by a common standard. This ensures users receive only relevant data from a vast quantity of
disparate information sources, thus reducing the time and cost associated with purchasing information online. These same principles, which have made Dialog a
leader in the online information industry, are now being applied to business-to-business and consumer products and services.
Commenting on Dialog's entry into the e-commerce market, Dan Wagner, Chief Executive of The Dialog Corporation, said, ''E-commerce is an ideal
complement to our online information services and represents an unrivalled business opportunity. With our experience of delivering services over the Internet,
and through the application of our proprietary searching and indexing technologies, The Dialog Corporation is uniquely placed to advance the trend in both the
business-to-business and consumer e-commerce markets.
''In addition, our long-standing, global corporate customer base and our various alliance partners have demonstrated strong interest in the services we will be
providing and this should prove invaluable in the long-term success of this new business area. With today's announcement and the launch of Planet Retail, we are
firmly establishing a presence in the e-commerce market, initially in the consumer sector.''
Consumer Market
In the first phase of the Planet Retail service, in partnership with Junglee Corporation, users are able to search the Internet through Planet Retail's user-friendly,
point and click interface, to determine the best available on-line prices from approximately 100 Internet retailers in 11 main categories, from books to clothing to
electronic products. Planet Retail allows users to quickly search and select products based on information such as brand names, product types and price. The
user is able to sort the resulting table of matching goods by any of the available criteria, such as price, brand, or the merchant providing the goods, and links are
provided to enable the user to order the goods from the merchant.
Initial participants in this phase, which will be entirely sponsored by advertising, include global retailers such as Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, CD Now, Dell
Computers, Eddie Bauer, FAO Schwartz, Gateway2000, J C Penney, Land's End, Music Boulevard, The Gap, Wal-Mart, Disney, Office Depot and Office
Max. The full list of participants is reviewed below.
The Company will be able to leverage this service through other channels, by re-branding them for delivery via the Internet sites of the company's extensive
global network of alliance partners, to their existing consumer audiences.
The second phase of Planet Retail will add the capability for consumers to effect purchases with a broad range of retailers directly from the Planet Retail site.
Planet Retail will provide confirmation receipts from all retailers and total the expenditures from within the service, relieving users from entering credit card
information for each retailer. In addition, the second phase will incorporate the full benefit of Dialog's InfoSort data indexing technology, enabling users to browse
product reviews, company profiles and relevant news and research to ensure that they are getting the best value for money. Furthermore, users will be able to
elect to be alerted to new products in particular sectors, or relevant information about those products.
Business-to-Business Market
In the business-to-business market, the Company is developing a complete solution for purchasing managers in small, medium and large organisations. Due to be
released in 1999, this solution will provide a purchase management system, to reside on an organisation's corporate Intranet, allowing purchasing managers to
predetermine budget allocations for each individual within the Company. DialogNet, the Company's secure network backbone developed to support the
information services business, will also provide security for transactions between companies and suppliers.
Forecasts for both the consumer and business-to-business e-commerce markets indicate substantial growth in this sector. For example, Forrester Research, Inc.
estimates that the inter- company e-commerce market will grow from $8 billion in 1997 to $327 billion by 2002, with business-to-business e-commerce leading
the way from 1999 onwards. It has been estimated that this market will be worth $187 billion by 2002.
Mr. Wagner added, ''We know that Internet users are increasingly using the Internet to make purchases, as well as using the information available on the
Internet to research these purchasing decisions. According to Odyssey, nearly 30% of online households made a purchase over the Internet in the last six months
- an increase of 50% compared to the same time last year.
''By leveraging InfoSort and other technologies, we can provide consumers and business-to-business users with comparative shopping solutions that will
materially enhance their Internet shopping experience. Consumers will be able to visit www.PlanetRetail.com to access the best prices and securely purchase
goods from a growing number of leading 'etailers,' all from one simple search, instead of having to visit a number of individual e-commerce sites.''
Mr. Wagner concluded: ''The team driving our e-commerce initiatives is led by Andre Brown, Director of Strategic Alliances and Special Projects for The
Dialog Corporation. Richard Webster, a senior member of the strategic alliance team, has been appointed Director of Advertising Sales. The team has years of
experience in managing both the relationships with our alliance partners and the day-to-day running of special projects such as the Trade UK Export Initiative,
and is therefore perfectly placed to lead our e-commerce business and to leverage our alliance partnerships in order to reach the greatest number of potential
users.''
The Dialog Corporation (http://www.dialog.com) is a leading provider of online information created by the merger of M.A.I.D plc and Knight-Ridder
Information Inc. The Dialog Corporation brands include the DIALOG, DataStar and Profound range of products and services. These brands provide
comprehensive, authoritative sources of information to professionals worldwide. The Dialog Corporation has world headquarters in London and US
headquarters in Mountain View, California. The Company's American Depositary Shares (ADS) are traded on Nasdaq under the symbol ''DIALY'' with four
Ordinary Shares comprising one ADS; its Ordinary Shares trade on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol ''DLG.''
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, which are subject to the ''safe harbor'' created by those sections. The forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such
as ''may,'' ''will,'' ''expect,'' ''intend,'' ''estimate,'' ''anticipate,'' ''believe'' or ''continue'' or variations thereon, and include, among others, the launch dates of
the Company's products noted above. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements as a result of
certain factors, including, among others, those set forth under the caption ''Risk Factors'' in the Company's most recent Report on Form 20-F or generally in the
Company's Reports on Form 6-K. The Company disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements as a result of subsequent events.
Planet Retail Participants:
1800Flowers FragranceNet UBL
A1 books FTD videoflicks
AbbyRoad Gateway2000 (NYSE:GTW - news) VideoServe(Nasdaq: VSVR - news)
Access Discount Gifts on the Web Viking (Nasdaq:VKNG - news)
Camera Gifts911 Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT - news)
Adventure Quest GiftTree
AllDirect GORP
Alt.bookstore Insight
Amazon.com J C Penney (NYSE:JCP - news)
(Nasdaq: AMZN - news) J Crew
Avon (NYSE: AVP - news) L.L. Bean
BackCountry Gear Lands End (NYSE:LE - news)
Barnes & Noble Mass Music
(NYSE: BKS - news) Microwarehouse
Basspro Multiple Zone
Bear St (pczone)
Bibliofind Music Blvd -N2K
Blockbuster-Viacom (Nasdaq: NTKI - news)
(AMEX: VIA - news) NBA store
Bookserve NECX
Bookstacks Netflix
Brookstone Noodle Kidoodle
(Nasdaq: BKST - news) (Nasdaq: NKID - news)
Bugle Boy Office Depot
BuyComp (NYSE: ODP - news)
BuySoftware Office Max (NYSE:OMX - news)
Cabelas Omaha Steaks
Cambridge Patagonia
Soundworks PC Connection
Camelot (Nasdaq: PCCC - news)
CampMor PC Mall
CD Universe PCZone
CDNow Powells
(Nasdaq: CDNW - news) Red Rocket
ChipShotGolf Reel.com
Chumbo REI
Colorado Cyclist RR Donnelly (NYSE:DON - news)
Consumer Direct Service
Crutchfield Merchandise
Cyberian (NYSE: SME - news)
Cyberian Outpost Software.net
Cybershop (Nasdaq: (Nasdaq: SWNT - news)
CYSP) Spiegeltronics
Dell Computer Sportsite
(Nasdaq: DELL - news) Sportsstore
Designer Outlet Spree
Disney (NYSE: DIS - news) Surplus Direct
DVDdiscounts The Gap (NYSE:GPS - news)
DVDExpress Thunderbeam
Eddie Bauer Travel Navigator
Egghead (Nasdaq:EGGS - news) Travelon
TryandBuy
Emusic Tunes.com
Etoys
Factory Mall
FAO Schwartz
Fossil (Nasdaq:FOSL - news)
Fragrancecounter
Contact:
The Dialog Corporation plc
Tracey Johnston, 011-44-171-930-6900
tracey_johnston@dialog.com
or
Vibeka Sen Sisodiya, 800/334-2564 or 650/254-8339
vibeka-sisodiya@dialog.com
or
U.S. investor relations
Jaffoni & Collins Incorporated
David C. Collins/Robert L. Rinderman
212/835-8500
dialy@jcir.com
or
U.S. media contacts
Middleberg + Associates
Courtney Darby/Sara Clark
212/888-6610
courtney@middleberg.com
More Quotes
and News:
Amazon Com Inc (Nasdaq:AMZN - news)
Avon Products Inc (NYSE:AVP - news)
Barnes & Noble Inc (NYSE:BKS - news)
Brookstone Inc (Nasdaq:BKST - news)
CDnow Inc (Nasdaq:CDNW - news)
Dell Computer Corp (Nasdaq:DELL - news)
Dialog Corporation PLC (Nasdaq:DIALY - news)
Donnelly Corp (NYSE:DON - news)
Egghead.com Inc (Nasdaq:EGGS - news)
Fossil Inc (Nasdaq:FOSL - news)
Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS - news)
Gateway 2000 Inc (NYSE:GTW - news)
JC Penney Company Inc (NYSE:JCP - news)
Lands' End Inc (NYSE:LE - news)
N2K Inc (Nasdaq:NTKI - news)
Noodle Kidoodle Inc (Nasdaq:NKID - news)
Office Depot Inc (NYSE:ODP - news)
Officemax (Ohio) (NYSE:OMX - news)
PC Connection, Inc (Nasdaq:PCCC - news)
Service Merchandise Company Inc (NYSE:SME - news)
SOFTWARE.NET CP (Nasdaq:SWNT - news)
Viacom Inc (AMEX:VIA - news)
Videoserver Inc (Nasdaq:VSVR - news)
Viking Office Products Inc (Nasdaq:VKNG - news)
Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT - news)
The Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS - news) |
