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To: Dealer who wrote (9431)	10/24/2000 8:47:58 AM
From: Dealer	Respond to of 65232

INTC--Sharper Image Introduces New Tool By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Business Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Specialty retailer Sharper Image is trying to duplicate the experience of window shopping for online customers. The company famous for eclectic products is introducing new Internet technology that uses a series of algorithms to make educated guesses about online shoppers' tastes. The technology, called a ``dynamic browser,'' makes product pitches based on which Sharper Image offerings online customers click first and on information collected from past visits to the company's Web site. Chip maker Intel Corp. developed the dynamic browser during the past year in the hopes that it will become a component in the next generation of e-commerce sites. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company has applied for a patent on the technology. Intel's underlying assumption in developing the technology was that more online shoppers are becoming interested in milling around e-commerce sites, just as they would at the neighborhood mall. Sharper Image - one of the few retailers profiting from Internet sales - is the first merchant to use the tool. With the innovation, San Francisco-based Sharper Image hopes to boost its fast-growing online store, which is expected to generate $60 million in sales this year, more than doubling last year's output. Sharper Image, which also sells it products through 90 stores and a catalog, made just under $1 million from its online division during the first half of the year. As an example of how the technology works, a shopper who clicks on Sharper Image's popular Razor scooter with the dynamic browser would also be presented with snapshots of other mobile products sold by the store. Besides providing glimpses at six loosely related products, the technology also fetches three randomly selected products to display for customers. ``This makes a lot of sense,'' said Kristine Koerber, an analyst with W.R. Hambrecht & Co. in San Francisco. ``Sharper Image is trying to capture more impulse buyers, something that has been tough to do on the Internet.'' The images retrieved by the dynamic browser are presented in three rows stacked on top of each other alongside the originally requested product. ``This really replicates the look and feel of shopping in one of our stores or catalogs,'' said Tracy Wan, Sharper Image's president. The dynamic browser could frustrate some shoppers using a standard computer modem because the technology works best with high-speed connections. As with any new twist, the dynamic browser also could cause some systems to crash, although Wan said that wasn't a problem during tests. The new feature only works if shoppers open it by clicking on the site's dynamic browser button. Dynamic browsing functions work much like online the tools used by online music and book sellers, which commonly recommend other merchandise based on a previously requested title. Unlike the other existing tools, the dynamic browser provides visual elements besides text. ``Right now, most Web users will buy a certain item and then get out of the site,'' said Tim Yiu, general manager of Intel's Internet business solutions group. ``There's nothing really out there on the Web like this that addresses the idea of shopping as entertainment.''