Premier Shopping Network Announces Grand Opening of ShopperConnection
Original Team of CDnow, Cyberian Outpost, eToys, and Reel.com Are Joined by
Datek Online, Garden.com, PC Flowers & Gifts, Preview Travel, Virtual
Vineyards
NEW YORK, Nov. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- ShopperConnection (shopperconnection.com),
a groundbreaking network connecting the Internet's leading online specialty
retailers and services, announced its grand opening today. Designed to make
holiday shopping quicker, easier, safer and more fun than ever before,
ShopperConnection interconnects the best-known online stores and services
providing tremendous selection and convenience.
ShopperConnection offers great holiday promotions including 30 Great Holiday
Ideas from $3.98 to $3,000 (see below), which lists a variety of this season's
hottest-selling items from all of the participating sites. In addition,
ShopperConnection also has a section that features specials and sales from
each of the participating sites, providing shoppers with one gateway to find
the Internet's best promotions.
The ultimate holiday gift is just a click away when users visit
ShopperConnection. Consumers who access the ShopperConnection network can
find what they want without having to contend with long lines, traffic jams or
unruly crowds. Customers can access the ShopperConnection network either by
entering the network's front door at shopperconnection.com or through links
provided on each of the partners' sites.
ShopperConnection specialty retailers include:
* CDnow -- The Internet's Number One Music Store
* Cyberian Outpost -- The Cool Place to Shop for Computer Stuff
* Datek Online -- Invest in Stocks and Mutual Funds on the Internet
* eToys -- We Bring the Toy Store to You
* Garden.com -- The Ultimate Resource for Everything Gardening
* PC Flowers & Gifts -- Flowers and Gifts for All Occasions
* Preview Travel -- Travel On Your Terms
* Reel.com -- The Best Place to Buy Movies
* Virtual Vineyards -- Wonderful Wine, Fabulous Food and Gourmet gifts
ShopperConnection provides a convenient way for both new and experienced
shoppers to enjoy peace of mind while shopping for their favorite products and
services. Visitors who have made purchases from one of the participants'
sites can be assured of the same reliable service and security because the
ShopperConnection network includes only well known and trusted brands.
ShopperConnection was founded in October by CDnow, Cyberian Outpost, eToys and
Reel.com. Just in time for the holidays, ShopperConnection now features nine
of the best Internet specialty retailers and services. In an ongoing effort
to create the ultimate consumer shopping experience, ShopperConnection will
continue to secure additional specialty retailers and explore new services for
the network.
The network is planning several initiatives to improve the consumer shopping
experience, and is currently exploring a common ShopperConnection wallet that
will offer customers a simple and secure payment option when shopping on the
network. This common wallet would allow a customer to create a common
ShopperConnection account, enabling them simple and fast payment at all
participating stores.
30 Great Holiday Ideas from $3.98 to $3000
1. Coca-Cola/CDnow Holiday Music at CDnow
2. Po Teletubby by Eden at eToys
3. The Grinch Who Stole Christmas at Reel.com
4. Paella Party: the makings for perfect paella, complete with rice,
recipe, saffron, and a paella pan at Virtual Vineyards
5. Chocolate Dipped Pears enrobed in distinctive Scharffen Berger
chocolate from Garden.com
6. 30-stem Winter Bouquet of red and white flowers with Free Chocolate
Truffles at PC Flowers & Gifts
7. Silver Anniversary Tub by Lego at eToys
8. Lion King 2 at Reel.com
9. The Classic Duet: a pair of wines, one red, one white, in a special
gift box at Virtual Vineyards
10. Judy, a complete career retrospective of Judy Garland, at CDnow
11. Fruit Ornament Collection: glass-blown collectable treasures from
Garden.com
12. Tomb Raider III, the season's hottest game, at Outpost.com
13. House Party Basket loaded with quality eatables at PC Flowers & Gifts
14. Star Theater Home Planetarium by Uncle Milton at eToys
15. Gone With the Wind on Video/DVD at Reel.com
16. Unique, decorative wreaths for the holidays and all year round from
Garden.com
17. Subscribe to the Monthly Wine Club and get a complimentary copy of Oz
Clarke's Pocket Wine Guide at Virtual Vineyards
18. FTD(R) Holiday Celebrations(R) Bouquet featuring traditional holiday
greens with red and white blooms at PC Flowers & Gifts
19. Bob Dylan Biograph at CDnow
20. Earth to the Moon DVD box set at Reel.com
21. Quiet Morning Bath Collection - herbs and salts to soften your skin
and soothe your spirit from Garden.com
22. Sony Mavica Digital Camera at Outpost.com
23. Deluxe Start Action Factory by Rokenbok at eToys
24. Palm III with Free Color Flip Covers at Outpost.com
25. Maui vacation package at spectacular Wailea Beach from Preview Travel
26. Complete Mozart Edition - Deluxe, at CDnow
27. Baja Mexico Cruise on Royal Caribbean's Viking Serenade from Preview
Travel
28. Invest in your or a loved one's future by opening a brokerage account
at Datek Online
29. The New Apple iMac Internet Computer at Outpost.com
30. Bike trip through the charming Loire Valley of France from Preview
Travel
Boilerplates
About CDnow
CDnow, Inc. (cdnow.com), the Internet's number one music store, offers more
than 300,000 music related items -- ten times the size of the average music
store. Founded in 1994 by twin brothers Jason and Matthew Olim, CDnow is
building a better music store through intelligent album recommendations,
custom CDs, music samples, a vast library of reviews and features from top
music writers and exclusive editorial content from Rolling Stone Network,
MTV/VH1 and CMJ New Music Monthly. CDnow is the premier online music store on
Yahoo!, Lycos, Lycos-Bertelsmann, Webcrawler, Tripod, Geocities, MTV/VH1 and
Rolling Stone Network.
About Cyberian Outpost (Outpost.com)
Outpost.com is an Internet-only store for computer products that operates 24
hours a day, seven days a week. A leader in global e-commerce since 1995,
Cyberian Outpost provides consumers and small office purchasers of computer
products superior selection, quick and easy search capabilities, and product
information on over 140,000 hardware, software, and peripheral products. With
a safe and secure credit card payment system, fast and direct international
shipping, Cyberian Outpost (Nasdaq: COOL) offers exceptional value and service
to its customers worldwide.
About Datek Online
Located on the World Wide Web at datek.com, Datek Online is the
nation's fastest growing online brokerage firm. Recently rated the number one
online brokerage firm by TheStreet.com and the fifth largest by volume by
Piper Jaffray, Datek Online empowers individual investors by providing them
with direct access to the financial markets through innovative technology. An
early pioneer in online investing, Datek Online was established in 1996 and is
headquartered in Iselin, NJ.
About eToys
Based in Santa Monica, Calif., eToys is the Internet's largest store for
children's products, carrying more than 9,000 items at prices that meet or
beat those of traditional land-based retailers. eToys is the only toy
retailer to provide a comprehensive selection of both nationally advertised
and specialty toy brands. eToys also carries a wide range of children's
videos, video games, music and software titles. The company's website
launched in October, 1997.
About Garden.com
Garden.com by Garden Escape is the leading, most comprehensive gardening
resource on the Web, offering home gardeners an unsurpassed collection of over
12,000 high-quality seeds, plants, tools and garden-inspired gifts. Garden.com
also provides a wealth of gardening information and inspiration to help home
gardeners succeed including, seasonal magazine content, professional advice,
and free garden design software. Founded in September of 1995 and
headquartered in Austin, Texas, the company's executive management team has
extensive experience in technology and the gardening industry. Garden Escape
is currently being funded by Austin Ventures, Dawson Samberg Capital
Management, Global Retail Partners, Nexus Group, Oak Investment Partners,
Phillips-Smith Specialty Retail Group, Scripps Ventures, and Van Wagoner
Capital Management.
About PC Flowers & Gifts
Founded in 1989 by William J. Tobin and launched on the Prodigy network, PC
Flowers & Gifts (www.pcflowers.com) is the pioneer of interactive flower and
gift marketing. Through their alliance with The Fingerhut Companies, PC
Flowers & Gifts has added jewelry, cosmetics, balloons, gift baskets and
collectibles, as well as gourmet food categories, to its existing flower
service. PC Flowers & Gift's marketing partnership is the only program on the
Internet that builds brand identity for each marketing partner and ensures
that they receive a percentage of the first sale and every repeat sale.
Currently, PC Flowers & Gifts has more than 1,000 participating marketing
partners including CBS, NBC, Merrill Lynch, Citibank, The Tribune Company and
USA Today, to name a few. The oldest and most prestigious website directory,
Lycos TOP 5%, named PC Flowers & Gifts #1 in two of its categories, the gift
service and flower service.
About Preview Travel
Preview Travel, Inc. (Nasdaq: PTVL) is a leading provider of branded online
travel services for leisure and small business travelers. It offers one-stop
shopping for airline tickets, vacation packages, car rentals, hotels and
cruises, as well as integrated access to travel information, news and
resources. Preview Travel has more than 6 million registered subscribers and
reported gross bookings of $57.6 million in Q3 1998. The company operates its
own award-winning Web site at previewtravel.com, in addition to the
primary travel services on America Online, AOL.com, Excite, Lycos, SNAP! and
USA Today.
About Reel.com, Inc.
Reel.com (www.reel.com) is the leading Web-based movie store offering 100,000
VHS titles and over 2,300 DVD titles for sale. Reel.com also features
proprietary editorial content to help customers select movies. The staff of
writers for the site include film school graduates, video store veterans,
screen writers, and scores of other film experts. Reel.com's current Internet
partners include Excite, @Home Network, CelebSite, Chicago Sun Times, E!
Online, Film.com, Mr. Showbiz, Turner Home Entertainment, TV Guide
Entertainment Network, and Yahoo!. Reel.com is a subsidiary of Hollywood
Entertainment, Corp. (Nasdaq: HLYW), dba Hollywood Video, the second largest
video store chain in the United States, with over 1,100 stores in 42 states.
About Virtual Vineyards
Founded in 1994, Virtual Vineyards is one of the Internet's leading retailers,
offering a wide variety of distinctive wine, food, and gift selections to
consumers and corporations around the world. Selections may be purchased
online at virtualvin.com or by dialing 800-289-1275. Located in
Palo Alto, Calif., the company is privately held.
SOURCE CDnow, Inc.
CO: CDnow, Inc.; Cyberian Outpost; eToys; Reel.com, Inc.; Datek Online;
Garden.com; PC Flowers & Gifts; Preview Travel, Inc.; Virtual Vineyards
ST: New York
IN: MLM REA ENT
SU: PDT
11/23/98 10:17 EST prnewswire.com |
