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Technology Stocks : CDNow (CDNW) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Walz who wrote (1195)	5/3/1999 7:42:00 AM
From: Kip518	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1465

Virgin Group Joins Competition With Its Own E-Commerce Site interactive.wsj.com Virgin Entertainment Group plans Monday to launch a foray into online retailing, taking on Amazon.com Inc. and others in the increasingly competitive Internet music market. Virgin (www.virgin.com), led by entrepreneur Richard Branson, said its Virgin Megastore Online initially will be aimed at the U.S. market, with sites targeted at United Kingdom, European and Japanese audiences expected by year end. By that time, Virgin said it will have one million items, including CDs, tapes and entertainment books, for sale in its online stores, far more than are available in any of its 200 physical outlets. The London-based company faces a tough environment in cyberspace, however. Online pioneers such as Amazon, CDnow Inc. and Buy.com Inc. have sizable head starts and are competing aggressively on price to woo customers away from traditional retailers. At the same time, mail-order music clubs and chain stores such as Tower Records are becoming more serious about their online-selling efforts. Bricks-and-mortar such as Virgin retailers, in particular, have been wary about selling online because they risk cannibalizing in-store sales, but their hesitation has allowed more nimble Internet companies to gain strong footing. "They [Virgin] are so late and the market is so crowded, I'd be surprised if they had significant market share," said Nicole Vanderbilt, an analyst at Jupiter Communications, a New York market-research firm. But Virgin maintains it is entering the market at the right time, just as online shopping is moving from the ranks of more adventurous "early adopters" to a mainstream audience. The company hopes its well-known brand, affixed to products ranging from soda pop to airlines, will help make novices more comfortable with e-commerce, especially those people outside the more cyber-savvy confines of North America. "The rest of the world needs some persuading and we think the Virgin brand can do that," said Glen Ward, president of Virgin E-Commerce. Mr. Ward wouldn't give details about the company's pricing policy, but said the Web site will remain competitive with other online retailers while trying to create a synergy with its popular real-world stores. For example, the site will feature Radio Free Virgin, a live Web broadcast of the songs played by disc jockeys in its Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, London, Paris and Tokyo stores.