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To: Smart Investor who wrote (15088)	11/10/1998 6:20:00 PM
From: Lizzie Tudor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27307

Because you cant get what you want through TV without spending 8 hrs waiting for it to come up. The old shopping channel concept was kind of a boutique thing - never had the volume buyers necessary to make it in groceries or soft goods, therefore they were relegated to high end merchandise with high margins. Im not trying to sound abrupt, its just that as a woman I feel that I am an expert on the subject of shopping. I love Nordstroms and Bloomingdales btw, in fact I went there last night. But grocery shopping and drugstore stuff, etc I dont want to be bothered. For example, say you have 2 kids and you need all this stuff from Costco: diapers, baby formula, etc. You need a specific brand of all this stuff, and you want it to be cheap. People with kids are the best example to use because shopping with kids is a real bother. Imo, all of these kinds of volume household goods will shift from warehouse style stores to the web. And, the web business model enables cheaper prices too based on the mfg dynamics. I see consumer packaged goods (CPG) as an entire mkt whose retail channel could be replaced by the web. In fact, mfg software companies like I2 are targeting these industries with this pitch right now. Other things, like clothes, high end stuff, etc. I agree will never be replaced by the web.

To: Smart Investor who wrote (15088)	11/12/1998 10:35:00 PM
From: Webfoot	Respond to of 27307

I have to agree with Michelle's response - the "commodity stuff" - groceries, CPG etc. is good web shopping material. It will benefit companies like PeaPod, HomeGrocer.com etc. as they grow their physical distribution capabilities. The thing here is that we will set ourselves up on these services -(custom shopping lists - "automatic" purchases of diapers, milk, butter, etc. each week) and go right to those sites to make our purchases. Further, you'll see menu planners tied to grocery lists -- you'll pick your week's menus, and the sites will construct your grocery list. You remove the items you already have on hand, punch submit, and you're done. Portals like Yahoo (the subject of this thread) play no part in this, yet there is this wishful thinking that "ecommerce" will somehow, someday, justify today's $20 billion valuation. Not a chance, not in the timeline we on this board care about. Yahoo is an online magazine that keeps expanding and trying to sell ads. It is totally motivated to inflate usage figures because that will drive CPM ad rates up. Online shopping will surely grow, but like the real world, we'll have our favorite stores. When I want milk, I don't go to my local chamber of commerce office to point me to 7-11. Neither would I go to Yahoo to point me to homegrocer.com Once a user knows of the service, a Portal or search engine adds no value.