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PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept 27 (Reuters) - Now that online drug sales have disappointed, furniture has flopped, and software is a little soft, Internet stores are trying their hand at a new sales category many think could be their best seller yet.

It's called selling the store.

This is not a figurative reference to selling every last bit of merchandise in the store, nor does it mean bailing from the business altogether and selling the warehouse that used to stock the inventory -- although a number of troubled retailers have taken that path too.

The more interesting trend is that some of the biggest and most successful Internet retailers like Amazon.com Inc. (NasdaqNM:AMZN - news) are aggressively pursuing revenues beyond the core business of selling merchandise to consumers, by licensing some of their most valued technology to other online retailers.

Amazon took a major step in this direction in August when it said it would build a co-branded online store with the offline retailer Toys R Us Inc. (NYSE:TOY - news), and provide all the underlying logistical support. And it has been showing a strong interest ever since in cashing in on the technology on which its own store was built.

Last week, Amazon took the unexpected step of licensing one of its most valued tools, its 1-Click patented technology, to Apple Computer Inc. (NasdaqNM:AAPL - news) to use in the Apple online store.

The deal was somewhat surprising because Amazon has fought to keep 1-Click out of rival stores. The technology, which stores consumer credit information so they do not have to answer several lines of questions every time they return to make a purchase, makes buying so quick and simple that it could be the reason a time-pressed consumer buys a Harry Potter book from Amazon instead of a rival store like Barnes & Noble.com (NasdaqNM:BNBN - news).

Last year, in fact, Amazon sued Barnes & Noble.com to prevent it from using a service that resembled 1-Click.

Amazon may not be ready to license this competitive weapon to any close rivals, but many industry analysts say they do expect additional licensing deals.

``Absolutely, they will license the technology to a number of retailers,'' said Mike May, senior analyst with Jupiter Communications. May suggested Amazon may also get more strict enforcing its ownership of other proprietary technologies that other retailers have copied.

The reason?

Amazon has found that the infrastructure on which its store rests is one of its most valued assets and licensing it to other stores can bring in fatter margins than it gets from selling books, CDs or even power tools.

``Amazon simply has a lot of technology to license and it is also in a situation where it needs to find additional high margin revenue streams,'' May said.

The continued quest for profits, or for more profits, could also be the reason that Internet auction site eBay Inc.(NasdaqNM:EBAY - news) is pursuing a similar licensing strategy. Although it has not yet spelled out details of its plan, the company said last week that it would license its auction software so that other Web sites could post eBay's listings.

A spokesman for eBay said the company was constantly hearing from other Web sites looking for ways to integrate with eBay, and decided licensing its software could enhance its own service, and open up a brand new market opportunity.

Although the company has not speculated on the size of that market, a spokesman for eBay remarked, ``we're always hoping that the new markets we enter will be very lucrative.''

``It's a great move,'' William Blair & Co. analyst Dave Ricci said. ``It will reinforce the company's leadership position, and open up more growth opportunities.''