America Online Inc. said that it has signed
more than 160 new e-commerce agreements with retailers to offer brand-name
goods and services through the Shop@AOL marketplace.
The Shop@AOL destination, accessible across AOL’s portfolio of interactive
brands, will offer luxury goods, home furnishings, fine art and an apparel
category.
The majority of these commerce partners also have invested in
advertising or strategic marketing opportunities across the company’s brands,
AOL said.
More than 275 merchants will be marketing their quality brands and services
on Shop@AOL during the 1999 holiday shopping season, an increase of more
than 150 percent over the number of merchants featured last year.
New merchant partners include Healthtex, Crate and Barrel, Victoria’s Secret,
Fogdog.com, iTurf, Balducci.com, Furniture.com and Steve Madden shoes.
AOL also said that 95 percent of its current e-commerce merchants —
including 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, eToys, Eddie Bauer, Gap, Omaha Steaks and Lands’
End — have renewed their existing agreements and are expanding their
partnerships to include AOL’s full portfolio of shopping destinations:
Shop@AOL, Shop@AOL.COM, Shop@CompuServe, and Shop@Netscape.
Shop@AOL is currently rotating 30,000 promotions per week, or 450 promotions
per hour, across all the sites.
AOL said that more than 25,000 AOL members
are shopping online for the first time every day.