Great Priceline News!!
Priceline's Name-Your-Own-Price Grocery Service Hits Major Milestone: 2% of New York Households Now Price 5,000 Items per hour, 24 hours a day
Date: 2/2/00
..Active member base passes 150,000
..Membership surges by 50% in last 14 days as William Shatner TV
ads
increase awareness
..Over 5 million grocery items sold since November launch
..Daily sales of grocery items 125 times higher than airline
tickets in
New York (125,000 grocery items vs. 1,000 airline) making WebHouse
Club
the fastest growing Priceline service ever
..Pathmark to add all its 130 superstores in New York and
Philadelphia
markets
STAMFORD, Conn., Feb. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- If you thought naming your
price for airline tickets on Priceline.com was big, Priceline for
groceries is already 125 times bigger in New York. Today, the
Priceline WebHouse Club said it was selling 5,000 grocery items
per hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or 125,000 grocery
items each day, compared with selling 1,000 airline tickets a day
in New York on Priceline's web site, priceline.com.
Membership in the Priceline WebHouse Club, where consumers name
their own price for groceries on the Internet and then get those
groceries at their favorite local supermarket, now exceeds
150,000, or 2% of all households in the New York area.
The WebHouse Club is adding an average of 15,000 members each week
in the New York area, a rate three times faster than all of
warehouse clubs in the New York metro area combined.
WebHouse Club members are purchasing more grocery items through
the service than ever before. To date, members have named their
price on the Internet for over 5 million grocery items and then
picked up those groceries at their local supermarkets using their
green Priceline WebHouse Club membership card. The WebHouse Club
now prices 5,000 grocery items each hour around the clock. In peak
periods (over 10,000 per hour) it would take a football field
worth of check-out aisles to accommodate all of the Priceline for
groceries purchases.
The WebHouse Club is the fastest growing service on the
priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN) Web site. Other Priceline.com "name-
your-own-price" services include airline tickets, hotel rooms,
home mortgages and long distance telephone service.
What makes Priceline for groceries different from other online
grocery services is that it partners with major retail chains-to
date over 1,200 supermarkets-giving consumers the benefit of
naming their own price on the Internet and shopping at their
favorite local stores for those savings. WebHouse Club members
select two or more brands in over 175 product categories and name
their own price.
More than 1,200 supermarkets comprised of major grocery chains
participate in Priceline for groceries, meaning there is a
WebHouse Cub grocer located in virtually every neighborhood of a
WebHouse Club member. And the number of stores continues to grow.
Pathmark Stores Inc. said its entire 130 stores in New York, New
Jersey and Philadelphia will participate in the Priceline for
groceries service, beginning next week.
Company officials attribute the rapid increase in WebHouse Club
membership and purchases to strong word-of-mouth among current
club members and press reviews by major local and national media.
Recently, a major national consumer ratings magazine tried
WebHouse Club and reported that it saved 42%, or $40 on its test
purchase of groceries. The New York Times' On-Line Shopper
columnist said Priceline for groceries "may have been my best
online shopping experience." WCBS-TV in New York reported late
last month that it saved over 50% on its test purchase of
groceries. USA Weekend's "MoneySmart" columnist reported savings
of $50 and $30 on two separate shopping trips.
According to a recent study conducted by Schroth & Associates, an
independent Washington-based research firm, the average WebHouse
Club member tells 16 other individuals about the WebHouse Club.
The WebHouse Club continues to grow at a dramatic rate every week.
Over 80% of all sales are already from repeat customers and
WebHouse Club members said they plan to use the service, on
average, 45 times a year.
"Once consumers find that they can save up to 50% week after week
on their groceries and then get those savings by shopping at their
favorite local grocery store, they become steady WebHouse Club
shoppers," said Jay Walker, founder of the WebHouse Club. "They
tell their friends, family and co-workers about the tremendous
savings. For us, word-of-mouth has been more effective than all
other kinds of advertising combined."
Priceline for groceries is different from all other online grocery
services. WebHouse Club members name their own prices for
groceries on the Internet and go to their favorite local
supermarket to get those groceries. Priceline for groceries does
not make home deliveries. Instead it allows consumers who are
willing to be flexible on brand choices to name their own prices
on the Internet and shop for those savings at many convenient
supermarket locations.
WebHouse Club members can name their own prices in over 175
product categories representing over 700 national brands. Overall,
WebHouse Club members report average savings of $13 on a typical
shopping trip value of $35.
Priceline WebHouse Club has announced plans to rapidly expand in
the coming months. It is currently available in New York and
Philadelphia, and, beginning next week, the WebHouse Club will
expand its service in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. By April,
Priceline for groceries is expected to be in a dozen major U.S.
cities, including Atlanta and Detroit.
The WebHouse Club's rapid expansion is due to the fact that the
company offers savings at local stores instead of home delivery of
groceries. As a result, the company has no warehouses, trucks or
inventory. Instead, consumers visit priceline.com.
About Priceline WebHouse Club
Priceline WebHouse Club is a privately held licensee of
priceline.com. It allows members to name their own price for
hundreds of leading grocery items on the Internet. Members choose
from over 175 product categories representing more than 700
national brands. After naming their price, WebHouse Club members
can get their groceries at over 1,200 grocery stores and
supermarkets, including A&P, ShopRite, Grand Union, Waldbaum's,
KeyFood, King Kullen, Stop & Shop, the Food Emporium, Gristede's,
D'Agostino's, Super Food Mart and Pathmark. Discounts in the
system are supported by over two dozen major manufacturers and
more than 50 national sponsors.
SOURCE Priceline WebHouse Club
CONTACT: Robert Padgett of the WebHouse Club, 203-905-7650; or
Hillary Herkowitz of Middleberg and Associates, 212-699-2522, for
WebHouse Club/ |
