ADVISORY/Record-Setting Sales Online This Father's Day; BizRate.com Confirms Online Sales Nearly Triple Over Last Year.

Business Editors

ADVISORY...

--(BUSINESS WIRE)

WHAT:    Online sales for Father's Day 2000 topped out at $91 million,
         nearly triple last year's $31.8 million, but significantly
         lower than last month's Mother's Day sales of $190 million.
         Online orders also grew substantially. Just over 700,000
         orders were placed online for dads, compared with last year's
         432,000.

         Women (53%) surpassed men (47%) with online purchases for
         Father's Day this year, narrowing the gap from last year when
         men (60%) represented the majority of online shoppers.

         Other key findings:

      --  Average purchase amount was $129, nearly double the $66
          average purchase amount for Mother's Day this year.

      --  66% of purchases were made by online buyers who were
          making their first purchase from a specific online merchant.

      --  A majority of those first-time customers, over 90%, were
          already experienced online buyers.

      --  Fathers received 46% of gifts purchased online, followed by
          husbands/significant others (30%) and fathers-in-law (13%).

      --  Books were the most popular gift purchased online (22%).
          Entertainment products (music/video/event tickets)
          represented 19% of purchases and clothes 14%.

WHY:     With each major gift-buying holiday, the phenomenal growth of
         e-commerce is reinforced. Experienced Web buyers are flocking
         to e-retailers for holiday gifts, and continue to make first
         purchases from different online merchants, expanding
         e-commerce even further.

WHO:     BizRate.com, an open and comprehensive marketplace, governed
         by customer ratings, linking millions of online buyers to
         leading online merchants each month. As a trusted
         market-maker, BizRate.com combines valuable
         customer-generated information with a powerful set of
         shopping tools to help online shoppers confidently and easily
         decide where to buy online.

         Paul Bates, vice president of research, is available to
         provide additional insights into the e-commerce landscape of
         Father's Day.