Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Cents and Sensibility - Kimberly and Friends' Consortium -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: nolimitz who wrote (75692)	2/15/2000 9:26:00 PM
From: marquis103	Respond to of 108040

PLRX. More good news. May have to buy more of this beaten down puppy. Russ Tuesday February 15 4:50 PM ET Planetrx.com Sees High-Profit Sponsors NEW YORK (Reuters) - PlanetRx.com Inc (NasdaqNM:PLRX - news) said on Tuesday its expects to derive up to 15 percent of future annual revenues from corporate sponsors of 29 Internet sites it plans to launch within the next few years, all linked to specific diseases or types of health care workers. The South San Francisco, Calif., online drugstore has already started up five of 22 sites which will be linked to specific diseases -- obesity.com, arthritis.com, depression.com, cholesterol.com, and diabetes.com. It owns the ''domain names,'' Internet addresses with easily recognizable names, for the sites -- all of which will be linked to the company's own commercial Web site. New Jersey drug maker Warner-Lambert Co (NYSE:WLA - news), which markets the diabetes treatment Rezulin, has a five-year sponsorship deal for the diabetes.com site. The site offers information about diabetes, including feature stories and treatment options. ''(Warner-Lambert) will pay us millions of dollars over the five year-period,'' PlanetRx.com chief executive William Razzouk told Reuters in an interview here at the Warburg Dillon Read Global Healthcare Services Conference. Razzouk said a sponsor for his company's future ''allergy.com'' site has already been found and will be announced in March. He said that sponsor would pay PlanetRx.com $3 million over a period of two years. PlanetRx.com has not yet chosen sponsors for its other 20 disease-specific sites, which will include ''cancer.com'' and ''alzheimers.com.'' But Razzouk predicted they will all be highly profitable. ''We'll end up pairing up sponsors for all of them, probably within a few years. And the profit margins from the sponsorships and advertising on these (sites) is in the 85 to 90 percent range, which will help profitability,'' Razzouk said. That compares to the company's overall 16 percent gross profit margin in 1999 for its entire slate of products, which include prescription and over-the-counter drugs, beauty supplies and thousands of consumer products typically found in drugstores. ''We think these (Web site) sponsorships and advertising revenues could account for a minimum of 10 percent, and could be 15 percent'' of total company sales in future years, Razzouk added. Razzouk said his company also owned seven other domain names, all linked to types of healthcare practitioners. The sites, which include ''physicians.com'' and ''sportsdoc.com,'' will all also likely find sponsors within a few years, he said. PlanetRx.com, launched last October, claims it offers one of the largest selections of health and personal care products available on the Internet. It had fourth quarter revenues of $5.1 million, up 66 percent from third quarter revenues of $3.1 million. But the company reported a fourth-quarter loss of $34.1 million, or $0.75 per share, excluding amortization of stock-based compensation and intangible assets. It competes with online pharmacies such as Drugstore.com Inc (NasdaqNM:DSCM - news) and CVS.com, the Internet pharmacy of the CVS Corp (NYSE:CVS - news) drugstore chain. Shares of PlanetRx.com closed down 62 cents to 13-3/8 on Tuesday. They have traded in a range between 12-5/8 and 36-1/2 since the company went public four months ago.

To: nolimitz who wrote (75692)	2/15/2000 9:29:00 PM
From: marquis103	Respond to of 108040

PLRX. Another alliance. Looks like they're getting their act together. Russ Barnesandnoble.com enlists host of online allies By Greg Sandoval Staff Writer, CNET News.com February 15, 2000, 12:20 p.m. PT Barnesandnoble.com today stepped up its marketing efforts online by forming alliances with seven leading e-commerce companies. The Web arm of book superstore Barnes & Noble said that it will link to 1-800-Flowers.com, Expedia.com, Jcrew.com, L.L. Bean, Petsmart.com, PlanetRx.com and VitaminShoppe.com in exchange for equal promotion on their respective sites. "We looked at some figures and selected these companies for their great brands," said company spokeswoman Lisa Lanspery. "We wanted to leverage these assets and allow them to take advantage of ours." The partnerships, which launched today, could help Barnesandnoble.com gain some ground against online leader Amazon.com, which has continued to beef up its product offerings and extend its market clout through acquisitions and investments. This year, Barnesandnoble.com has set its sights squarely on acquiring new customers at lower costs, Lanspery said. Today's agreements are designed to help each member company tap into the other's customer base. Under the terms of the marketing deal, no money exchanges hands between member companies. "This is not an affiliate deal," Lanspery said. "We're not charging anybody. All of (the companies) are just getting access to millions of new buyers." Lanspery said that Barnesandnoble.com will provide links to the companies in its "Thank You" area, the transaction page where customers go after they have made purchases. This is to ensure that the company doesn't encourage customers to leave Barnesandnoble.com before they buy. Member companies will also be included in various Barnesandnoble.com direct-marketing initiatives, including coupons and emails.