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Technology Stocks : eToys Inc. (ETYS) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RetiredNow who wrote (870)	12/23/1999 10:20:00 PM
From: Jbenz0	Respond to of 1330

Toys R Us pays for Xmas delays NEW YORK -- Toys R Us Inc. is discovering electronic commerce is far from child's play. The popular toy retailer, which has been relying on its Web site to stave off growing online competition, said Wednesday it is dishing out $100 coupons to some disappointed Internet shoppers who will not be getting their gifts in time for Christmas. Toys R Us (NYSE: TOY - news) said overwhelming volume prevented it from processing and fulfilling the entire batch of orders placed on or before Dec. 10, its deadline for Christmas delivery by standard shipping. "Basically e-commerce had a phenomenal year," said a spokesperson for the Paramus, N.J.-based toy retailer. "Due to the volume, Toys R Us has been doing as many transactions as they can, but couldn't get through all the orders." Cancel or receive a gift Toys R Us has notified the affected customers by e-mail, explaining they could cancel their orders for a refund or use 100 "Geoffrey dollars", named for the company's giraffe mascot, toward purchases at its retail locations. One Geoffrey dollar is equal in value to one U.S. dollar. Toys R Us emphasized the news -- disappointing to some and perhaps welcome to others -- affected only a small percentage of online shoppers, but the retailer did not disclose the exact figure. Toys R Us said customers that did not receive an e-mail should be getting their toys in time to place under the Christmas tree. Toys R Us, which said its average online order is roughly $60, added that some of the customers might still receive their orders on time. Those lucky shoppers would be able to keep the shipment as well as the 100 Geoffrey dollars. Toysrus.com has posted a notice on its Web site, alerting customers that time is running out for holiday orders. "If you place a new order today we can no longer guarantee delivery by December 24th. Our #1 priority is to process your existing orders," the notice reads. System not prepared Although it had boosted staffing levels and added more servers to its system to gear up for the holiday season, the spokesperson said the company was still not fully prepared for the shopping onslaught. Toysrus.com has indeed enjoyed healthy traffic during the holidays, but the site has suffered glitches as its parent races to cash in on the Internet and ward off aggressive competitors. The company, best known for its sprawling warehouse-type stores, has been relying heavily on toysrus.com to do battle with toy sites like KBKids.com, a unit of Consolidated Stores Corp. (NYSE: CNS - news), as well as Internet-only companies like eToys Inc. (Nasdaq: ETYS - news). Toys R Us has also been facing steep competition from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and has had to grapple with a series of management changes. In mid-November, Toys R Us said overwhelming traffic was blocking entry for many Web shoppers. The company said at the time that it had more than 900 employees shipping orders from its Memphis customer fulfillment center and was tweaking its technology infrastructure to meet demand. In its first year-to-year comparison survey of online holiday shopping trends, market research firm Media Metrix Inc. said earlier this month that traffic to electronic commerce sites that sell toys rose 99 percent over the same period last year. The Toys R Us' Web site showed the broadest increase over 1998, with a 355 percent jump in traffic during Thanksgiving week to about 1.6 million visitors from 350,000 in 1998, according to the Media Metrix survey. The company's shares are trading near their one-year low of 13-1/8. The stock closed at 13-1/2 on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, down 5/8 on the day.