US Report: Lycos opens online store
Published: 09 Dec 1998 15:38 GMT
Lycos says selling goods on its own site will offer consumers a "one-stop shop," allowing them to make multiple purchases with a single payment. Other portal players such as Yahoo! and Excite have taken a slightly different approach, setting up programs where merchants partners can sell their wares through a single shopping site, letting consumers use one shopping basket to make their purchases.
Lycos is working with OrderTrust a private firm based in Lowell, Massachusetts, to handle order processing. Lycos will take the orders online, and then turn them over to its suppliers, who will handle fulfillment, said Jeff Bennett, managing director of e-commerce at the Waltham, Massachusetts, firm.
Bennett wouldn't discuss specific financial details, but said that the company would be getting a cut of the sales. "What we're doing here is complementary to what we have been doing. We have been providing integration for many well-known retailers on the Lycos sites, and will continue to do so," he said. "This is just a way to evolve our business sites and serve consumers."
It's not surprising Lycos wants in on the shopping action. Online sales are expected to reach an all time high this holiday season. A new study conducted by the Boston Consulting Group for industry group shop.org found that online sales tripled during Thanksgiving week, compared to a year ago. And Lycos isn't the only one getting in. Companies ranging from literary magazine Salon to bookseller Amazon.com have launched online stores.
Amazon has also launched a new search site that lets users shop the Internet for products, and sort the results. The site uses technology from Junglee, a company it acquired in August.
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