One need look no further than Amazon's Associates Program - a network to 30,000 sites that sell books using Amazon as their vendor along with the information they provide or other products they sell. Yes, that's right, 30,000! Show me a mail-order firm that has done this. This is innovation so incredible that it would be considered a "Killer Application."
Barnes and Noble and Borders group have the exact same program. As a matter of fact, Barnes and Noble is one step ahead....read yesterdays news:
WhoWhere? and barnesandnoble.com Enter Into Strategic E-commerce and Marketing Partnership
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF. (May 18) BUSINESS WIRE -May 18, 1998--
barnesandnoble.com Offers WhoWhere's Angelfire Members Tools for
Selling Books on Their Websites; WhoWhere? to Private Label
Personal Homepage Service for barnesandnoble.com Affiliates
WhoWhere? Inc., a leading provider of free Web-based communication and
collaboration applications, announced today a strategic
electronic-commerce and marketing partnership with Barnes & Noble's
online counterpart barnesandnoble.com, the world's largest online
bookseller.
As a part of the agreement, WhoWhere will offer its Angelfire community
and its other online community partners the opportunity to be part of
the barnesandnoble.com Affiliate Network which enables end users to
include the bookseller's content, search utilities and e-commerce
capabilities into their existing Web pages.
Through the program, Angelfire members can become barnesandnoble.com
Affiliates and build their own online bookstores, recommending specific
books to their online visitors. Affiliates can also let their visitors
browse books by linking to different subject areas on the
barnesandnoble.com site or search for any book in print using the
search engine. Affiliates earn a commission on every book sold to
customers they refer to barnesandnoble.com.
WhoWhere will also create a barnesandnoble.com branded version of
PeopleCity, WhoWhere's free personal home page service. The service, to
be called "BOOKPLACE.COM," will offer a free home page to anyone
interested in creating their own online bookstore through
barnesandnoble.com's Affiliate Network.
"The partnership with WhoWhere brings our Affiliate Network to one of
the largest online communities and the strongest affinity groups on the
Web through WhoWhere's Angelfire and its online community partners,"
said Jeff Killeen COO for barnesandnoble.com. "In addition, people who
don't yet have Web sites will be able to create their own online
bookstore for free with 'BOOKPLACE.COM.'"
"Personal home pages are a great tool for embracing online community
members and enabling them to participate in the growing e-commerce
market," said Dale Fuller president and CEO for WhoWhere. "Members of
special interest online communities, like gURL, will be able to create
Web sites that publish lists of their favorite books, provide a way for
their visitors to purchase those titles and benefit monetarily."
In addition to personal home page offerings, barnesandnoble.com will
offer users of Mail City, WhoWhere's free web-based e-mail service, the
opportunity to subscribe to free custom e-mail newsletters from
barnesandnoble.com. The Special Delivery service will keep Mail City
users informed of new releases, bestsellers, and special promotions on
books on their favorite subjects. Subscribers will be able to link
directly from the newsletter to the barnesandnoble.com Web site to
browse and order the books described. About WhoWhere? Inc.
WhoWhere? Inc., based in Mountain View, is a leading online
communications guide and provider of Web-based applications that enable
people and businesses worldwide to seamlessly find, communicate and
collaborate with each other. The company's online directories include
free access to telephone listings, e-mail addresses, personal home
pages, and business URLs. WhoWhere's suite of network applications
currently includes e-mail, personal home pages and directory services.
Using a private-labeling model, WhoWhere licenses these applications to
major brands, community-based organizations and affinity groups that
want to increase site traffic and brand affinity. WhoWhere currently
provides its free Web-based services to a growing number of targeted,
affinity-based, online communities including iVillage, NetNoir and
LatinoLink. WhoWhere can be reached online at whowhere.com.
About barnesandnoble.com
barnesandnoble.com is a leading retailer of books and the exclusive
bookseller to America Online (AOL)'s 12 million subscribers (keyword:
barnes and noble). barnesandnoble.com also has exclusive partnerships
with more than 7,000 Web sites through its "Affiliate Network,"
including CNN Interactive, Disney, Lycos, and ZDNet. barnesandnoble.com
continues to bring bookselling innovation to the Internet. It was the
first online bookseller to offer deep discounts and the first to carry
an extensive inventory on its shelves. Currently, the company stocks
more than 600,000 titles in its state-of-the-art distribution center,
which is the largest standing inventory of any bookseller online.
About Barnes & Noble Inc.
Barnes & Noble Inc. operates 481 Barnes & Noble bookstores and 520 B.
Dalton bookstores. Barnes & Noble stores offer an authoritative
selection of more than 175,000 titles from more than 10,000 publishers
with an emphasis on small, independent publishers and university
presses. The company also publishes books under the Barnes & Noble
imprint for exclusive sale through its retail stores and nationwide
mail-order catalogs.
Note to Editors: WhoWhere? is a trademark of Whowhere? Inc.
-0- gdr/sf*
CONTACT: WhoWhere? Inc.
Kim Meeks, 650/938-4400 ext. 270
kim@whowhere.com
or
barnesandnoble.com
Ben Boyd, 212/414-6014
bboyd@bnweb.com
or
Technology Solutions, Inc.
Rick Loughery, 408/280-6000 ext. 201
rick.loughery@mailcity.com
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMED COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS RETAIL
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