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HOLIDAY ONLINE SHOPPING JUST GOT EASIER:
WhenUShop, THE FIRST TOOL THAT LETS CONSUMERS CUT THROUGH E-TAIL CHAOS,
VANQUISHES E-SHOPPERS' BIGGEST HEADACHES
A Free Tool Consumers Install from WhenU.com, WhenUShop Solves Navigation
Confusion, Saves Time and Identifies Special Deals, Hidden Costs and Delivery
Data
Unaffiliated with Any E-tailer or Portal, WhenUShop Appears Seamlessly
at 350 Top E-tail Sites; Online Shopping is Standardized, Streamlined
New York City - (November 15, 2000) -- Giving consumers the convenient
and powerful shopping experience that the Web has long promised, WhenUShop,
a new Internet software utility from WhenU.com, is set to solve a host
of nagging online shopping problems. WhenUShop has launched just as consumers
and e-tailers gear up for the world's second full-fledged e-holiday season.
"The Internet hasn't really lived up to its potential to empower consumers,
help them shop faster and get better deals. In fact, the Internet has
created a host of new problems for the online shopper: hard-to-navigate
Web sites; non-standard formats that breed confusion; hard-to-find money-saving
deals and coupons, and last-minute surprises like higher-than-expected
shipping costs. It's no wonder that close to 65% of all online shopping
carts are abandoned before purchase," said Avi Naider, WhenU.com's CEO.
"WhenUShop is designed to overcome these hurdles and transform online
shopping -- and finally give the advantage to the online consumer," Mr.
Naider added.
WhenUShop is the first tool that standardizes and centralizes important
retailer information in an easy-to-use, at-a-glance format - at more than
350 of the top online stores, from Amazon.com to Wine.com. After installing
the free WhenUShop software from WhenU.com in under one minute, the slim
WhenUShop toolbar appears on the left-hand side of the screen whenever
the consumer visits an e-tail site. WhenUShop disappears when the user
goes to a non-retail site.
WhenUShop scans e-tailer sites and provides essential information - including
shipping costs, coupons, rewards, gift services, rebate programs, special
holiday deals and sales tax - and lets users access the information from
a simple format on the screen that resembles a cell phone keypad. The
upshot: Online shopping is standardized, streamlined and made much faster
and easier.
The Only Way Fast Way to Capitalize on the Web's Rebates, Specials
and Coupons
Almost 60% of e-tail sites offer coupons and rebates that can save shoppers
from 5% to 50%, according to WhenU.com. But most online shoppers don't
take advantage of these money-saving deals, or even know they exist, because
the deals often come from third parties or aren't clearly marked at e-tailer
sites. WhenUShop scours the Web for the best coupons and rebates and shows
them to consumers before they start shopping.
Making Sure Holiday Online Shopping Keeps its Cheer - and Promises
More than a fifth of people shopping online last holiday season said high
shipping and handling costs presented a problem. In addition, nearly a
quarter of all orders arrived too late for the buyers' tastes. WhenUCom
helps clear up this problem: At each site, WhenUShop displays key information
on gift-wrapping services; holiday delivery times and charges, and special
holiday deals.
No More Unpleasant Surprises at Check-Out
When it comes time to check-out, even the most sophisticated online shoppers can get stung by unpleasant surprises: higher-than-expected shipping costs, gift wrap fees and state taxes. That's because many retailers don't display this information clearly until the last stages of the check-out process. WhenUShop gives the "full story" to consumers --before they shop. The keypad displays the e-tailer's "buried" shipping, tax and gift-wrap charges the moment the user arrives at the e-tailer's site.
The Straight Dope On Customer Service - Right Away
According to Business 2.0, 41% of online shoppers say the biggest drawback
to online shopping is customer service. WhenUShop gives consumers critical
information on retailer customer service by clearly displaying the online
store's retailer refund policies; customer service contact info, and site
ratings on on-time delivery and other key performance measures. Again,
this information is available at the WhenUShop keypad within seconds of
arriving at the retailer's site.
Comparison Shopping Made Easy, Saving Minutes, if not Hours
Online shoppers typically have to wade through pages of confusing information
at each retail site to get the information they need to make comparisons.
The WhenUShop keypad has a box that lets shoppers search across the top
350 online shopping sites on the specific criteria the individual shopper
cares about. With one click, shoppers can compare prices, shipping costs,
tax rates, delivery times, return policies, gift wrapping, credit card
security and privacy policies.
WhenUShop Business Model
The WhenUShop software tool is completely free to consumers. It generates
business-to-business revenues in three ways: through e-commerce transaction
fees from partners who are featured while customers install WhenUShop
from WhenU.com; through the sale of real estate on the WhenUShop toolbar
to online service providers, such as rebaters and rewards programs; and
through versioning and co-branding programs for affinity groups and corporations.
WhenU.com was founded in February 2000 by Gayatri Sondhi, Nevada Powe
and Avi Naider. Ms. Sondhi and Mr. Powe are former partners of The Boston
Consulting Group, and the original seed investors in WhenU.com. Mr. Naider
formerly worked at the Boston Consulting Group and AEA Investors Inc.
WhenU.com's other investors include Access Technology Capital, a technology
fund, and Ephraim Gildor, the founder of Arbitrade Holdings.
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