Four Key E-Tailing Players:
By TWICE staff -- TWICE, 11/1/1999
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www.Crutchfield.com: The site is an extension of the Crutchfield catalog, which produced its first issue in 1974. CEO/president Bill Crutchfield built up the catalog by focusing on customer service and providing information about the products.
The Charlottesville, Va.-based company maintains a 1.5 million-cubic-foot warehouse where 93% of the catalog and online items are kept in stock for fast delivery. It also provides a call center, offers lifetime technical support, and features free returns.
Crutchfield's authorized suppliers, many of which sell exclusively through Crutchfield as an e-tailer, include Blaupunkt, Cerwin-Vega, Clarion, Jensen, Kenwood, MTX, Panasonic, Pioneer, Polk Rockford Fosgate and Sony.
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www.800.com: This online superstore was founded in 1997 by president/CEO Greg Drew. It aims to be a full-service retailer in cyberspace by focusing on customer service, with such features as comparison shopping and product reviews, Drew said. Portland, Ore.-based 800.com officially launched its online site a year ago on October 6 and now claims a quarter of a million customers.
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www.electronics.net: Electronics.net, Jersey City, N.J., is a joint venture between Tops Appliance and CyberShop. It offers a selection of 35 mobile audio products from four manufacturers. General manager Jean Pierre Le Dour said the company may expand the category in the future, but is still in the evaluation process.
"At this point there seems to be a lot of activity despite the installation requirement," said Le Dour. "But there are some limitations in what people will purchase online without the ability to actually install. We will continue to serve it up, and based on the sales trends, we'll either pursue it more aggressively or not."
Electronics.net also sells thousands of products in CE, home office and appliances. It combines the buying expertise of Tops with the e-commerce expertise of CyberShop in a superstore environment offering "the best prices" from top brands. The company only lists items that are in stock and can be shipped immediately. Electronics.net began selling online on October 29 last year.
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www.valueamerica.com: Right now, Value America, Charlottesville, Va., carries only a line of subwoofers from Bazooka. But according to Doug Schatz, merchandising VP for consumer products, "We do plan to have a robust autosound area in the future. It has not been the first priority, therefore we're not complete yet. But we do believe it is a viable business."
Schatz said Value America may never capture the enthusiast market, but noted "there's a lot of mainstream upgrading that is done that we could competently cater to."
An Internet superstore for name-brand technology, office and consumer products, Value America sells products from more than 2,000 brand manufacturers in 40 industries. It completed a public offering on April 8 and reported revenues for the second quarter ended June 30 of $35.8 million, representing a 600% increase over the same period a year ago.
Crutchfield Joins PRO Group
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04/25/1999For E-tail, There's Nowhere To Go But Up
01/06/2000
