Who needs institutions when BII climbed from an intraday low of 1.10 2 Fridays ago to an intraday high of 5.10 on volume over 60 million today. I don't know what the CDN. funds are buying but it must be one of those stocks that traded 11 million shares less than us today. LOL
Friday November 27, 5:29 pm Eastern Time
Alternative shopping sites vie for Internet trade
By Reshma Kapadia
NEW YORK, Nov 27 (Reuters) - With online sales expected to double this holiday season, some Internet sites are letting shoppers to haggle over prices, bid at auctions or get deep discounts on name brands -- part of a drive by retailers to stand out in an increasingly crowded field.
All told, shoppers are expected to spend $2.3 billion online during the 1998 holiday shopping season, up from $1.1 billion in 1997, according to Jupiter Communications, an Internet market research group.
''It will shave a bit off from the brick-and-mortar retailers that have poor selection, bad customer service and are not competitive in their own world,'' said Maria LaTour Kadison, a senior analyst at Forrester.
Something for everyone is the name of the game. In addition to well-known retailers such as Macy's, JCrew and the Gap, a host of merchants that are not exactly household names are now online, hoping to gain attention this holiday season.
Some are offering deep discounts on designer clothes, furniture and electronics, while others are sponsoring sites where customers can bid on hard-to-get items -- such as Hasbro Inc.'s (AMEX:HAS - news) Furby, the season's hot toy phenomenon. Other sites allow shoppers to haggle for the cheapest price possible on everyday products.
Cendant Corp.'s (NYSE:CD - news) Netmark, for instance, offers the Haggle Zone for shoppers who are looking for the chance to fight for the best price on popular toys over the computer, rather than paying the going rate at the traditional stores. The site has a patent pending on the haggling feature.
Netmarket, which also has auction and flea market options, offers 1,700 brands and derives its revenue primarily from membership fees. Although anyone can buy products from the site, members get a larger discount, expanded warranties and a lowest-price guarantee, said Kerry O'Neil, vice president of interactive services at Cendant.
Searching for discounts is a mission for many shoppers, and many Internet retailers are hoping to grab market share by appealing to those looking to buy on the cheap. Many of these players are able to undercut the prices of traditional retailers because they have lower costs.
Deal-a-Day, based in Norwood, Mass., guarantees that all of its prices on its designer clothing are 30 percent lower than anyone else's.
Bluefly Inc. (Nasdaq:BFLY - news), whose site was launched in September, is a discount retailer that offers designer apparel -- everything from Prada to Calvin Klein -- and ships purchases within 24 hours. At the moment, it considers the department stores as its primary competition, Chief Executive Ken Seiff said.
Earlier this month, Lycos Inc.(Nasdaq:LCOS - news) chose Bluefly as its ''premiere commerce vendor,'' meaning that the discount retailer was deeply integrated into the Internet gateway's site with advertising and search words. The deal sent Bluefly's stock soaring. It closed Friday at $13.75, up $3.44 on the day.
''We consider this a critical season even though it is our first, because time is so compressed on the Internet,'' he said.
Many of these emerging retailers have quickly shot into the hot-stock realm, at a time when many Internet-related issues are soaring.
eBay Inc.(Nasdaq:EBAY - news), which sponsors an online auction site, is a good example. Its stock closed Friday at $218, up $13.50 on the day. That compares to its opening price of $53.50 on the day of its initial public offering in late September.
Santa Monica, Calif.-based eToys Inc. offers popular toys such as Beanie Babies and Furbys without the hassle of pushing and tugging for them at the shopping mall. Some analysts think it may be the next Amazon.com Inc.(Nasdaq:AMZN - news) -- the Internet's biggest book retailer -- even though Toys 'R' Us Inc.(NYSE:TOY - news) -- the largest U.S. toy retailer -- recently made a move online.
''eToy is only a year old, but they have been spending tons of money on advertising to create brand and awareness within everyday lives of people, not just when they are online,'' Forrester's Kadison said, adding that it was important to target customers at all times, just not via the Internet.
''Their benefit is that they have Toys 'R' Us, which has tons of problems off line, coming in after them. It would take a lot for Toys 'R' Us to beat them. This holiday season may push eToys into the next stratosphere.''
Toys R Us, which has been hurt by heightened competition from discount retailers and warehouse clubs, has recently closed stores and cut back on its purchasing.
biz.yahoo.com
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