Moving out of beta and into the Internet retailing spotlight, BlueLight.com
marked its formal launch today with a new interface, more Martha Stewart
merchandise and integration with Kmart stores for returns.
The e-tail site, which has already signed up more than 4 million subscribers
for its free ISP service, also features increased inventory, new search
functionality, a revamped Books-Music-Movies store and even user address
books for easier shipping to friends and family members.
BlueLight.com boasts hundreds of thousands of products (SKUs), up from 60,000
just a few months ago. The company will be building inventory through the
holiday season. Products are spread across eight categories: Apparel, Baby &
Toddler, Jewelry,
Books-Music-Movies, Electronics, For The Home, Sports and Toys.
Also featured are specialty stores with popular Kmart brands found nowhere
else on the Web: Martha Stewart Everyday, along with Route 66, Jaclyn Smith,
Kathy Ireland and jr-s.com apparel and accessories. The Martha Stewart
Everyday store houses more than 3,000 products (SKUs) for the home, garden,
baby, and now, kitchen.
“Consumers are expecting the world this holiday season,” said Mark H.
Goldstein, chief executive officer of BlueLight.com. “With the new BlueLight.com shopping site,
we will deliver it right to their doorsteps.”
The company said the redesign of the beta site was focused on four key areas:
product assortment, user functionality, reliability and fulfillment.
BlueLight.com said it is guaranteeing Christmas delivery of products
purchased by dates clearly posted on the site using a selection of trusted
carriers, such as United Parcel Service. BlueLight.com also has teamed with
SubmitOrder.com to satisfy much of its fulfillment needs. And purchases from
BlueLight are returnable at any of the more than 2,100 Kmart stores across
the country for full refund or exchange.
From anywhere on the site a consumer can search by product name, keyword or
brand. In response, BlueLight.com delivers a list of products broken out by
category,
including pictures of each item clearly displayed with prices.
An additional new feature on the site is comparison shopping. As a customer
comes to the product overview page for a particular item, they are also
presented with up to three similar products with photos and key features
giving them a complete view of their shopping options. The site also includes
a “cross-sell” option that displays related products to those browsed.
The site is capable of housing more than one million products and can handle
up to 20,000 concurrent user sessions, the company said.
BlueLight.com is an independent company formed to leverage the assets of
Kmart Corp.