AOL Launches `Last-Minute Gifts' as Holiday Shopping Rush Moves Into Final Hectic Days.DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 18, 1998-- The Leader in E-Commerce Offers Quick Choice of More than 500 Gifts with Fast Delivery One-Stop Shopping, From 911gifts to Beyond.com, Digital Chef, 1-800 FLOWERS, Fragrance Counter, Godiva Chocolatier choc·o·la·tier n. 1. One who makes or sells chocolate. 2. A place where chocolate is made or sold. [French, from chocolat, chocolate, from Spanish chocolate and More, Offers the Ultimate in Convenience With just 7 days left 'til Christmas, last-minute shoppers all over America are preparing to battle traffic, scramble for parking spaces, and fight their way through the crowds at their local malls to finish gift shopping for their friends and family. To help AOL (A division of Time Warner, Inc., New York, NY, www.aol.com) The world's largest online information service with access to the Internet, e-mail, chat rooms and a variety of databases and services. members avoid the last-minute shopping nightmare, AOL today launched its annual "Last Minute Gifts" area (Keyword: Last Minute Gifts) on both the AOL Shopping Channel Shopping channels are television specialty channels that present shopping related content, particularly for home shopping enthusiasts. Home shopping pioneers:
Open today through Christmas, "Last Minute Gifts" offers consumers the quick, easy and convenient choice of more than 500 hundred gift items from more than 15 merchants -- all guaranteed to arrive at the shipping address within 24 to 48 hours after a purchase is made. Among the wide variety of consumer products offered in the area are some of the year's hottest selling gifts: For HIM: Beyond.com's downloadable software gifts or a Seiko watch from egift. For HER: Fragrance Counter's Calvin Klein Noun 1. Calvin Klein - United States fashion designer noted for understated fashions (born in 1942) Calvin Richard Klein, Klein gift set with messenger bag A messenger bag (also called a courier bag) is a type of sack, usually made out of some kind of cloth (natural or synthetic), that is worn over one shoulder with a strap that winds around the chest resting the bag on the lower back. or gold jewelry jewelry, personal adornments worn for ornament or utility, to show rank or wealth, or to follow superstitious custom or fashion. The most universal forms of jewelry are the necklace, bracelet, ring, pin, and earring. from alle Fine Jewelry For MOM: 1-800-FLOWERS Christmas arrangements or Digital Chef's World Spice Collection For DAD: Music Boulevard CDs or a digital golf scorecard from 911gifts For KIDS: A Nintendo game from egift or a gift certificate from eToys For those consumers who wait until the last possible minute to shop, many of AOL's merchants, including 911gifts, Music Boulevard, Godiva Chocolatier and Digital Chef will guarantee delivery on Christmas Eve if you order by a specific date. And, for the ultimate last minute shopper, electronic gift certificates can be purchased Christmas Day on AOL from such popular names as barnesandnoble.com, Music Boulevard and Beyond.com -- and delivered that same day. "With AOL, it's never to late to do your shopping. Even on Christmas morning, you can purchase gifts online without ever having to leave the comfort of your home," said Wendy Brown Wendy Brown is a professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley. She has made major contributions to post-Foucaultian political theory and feminist theory. , AOL's Vice President of Electronic Commerce. "It's perfect for people who have just run out of time." Complimentary gift wrapping or free or discounted shipping services will also be offered by a majority of the merchants participating in "Last Minute Gifts," bringing the convenience of online shopping to a whole new level for consumers. Among these merchants are such popular brands as: The Fragrance Counter, Digital Chef and egifts. To provide an added degree of assurance that the items they order will arrive in time for the holidays, AOL shoppers will receive an e-mail confirmation notice when they place their order online. These notices will include the order confirmation number and shipping information -- necessary details should the customer need to check on the status of the delivery. With the clock ticking One increment, or pulse, of the CPU clock. See clock speed and clock. , AOL's Wendy Brown offers "last minute" shoppers the following useful tips: 1. Visit a One-Stop Shopping Destination. Those with only a limited amount of time to shop should go directly to a one-stop shopping site, rather than search the Web endlessly for possible gifts. These sites will likely offer a multitude of products to choose from across several popular brands. 2. Take Advantage of Complimentary Gift Wrap Services and Personalized per·son·al·ize tr.v. per·son·al·ized, per·son·al·iz·ing, per·son·al·iz·es 1. To take (a general remark or characterization) in a personal manner. 2. To attribute human or personal qualities to; personify. Cards. Avoid making a trip to the post office the week prior to Christmas, if possible. With many companies now offering consumers complimentary wrapping and gift cards, your online shopping purchases can now be sent directly to friends and family and arrive beautifully wrapped with a hand-written gift card -- in time for you to whisk under the tree. 3. Watch for Security and Satisfaction Guarantees. Not all shopping sites are safe and secure. In fact, most cannot guarantee the security of the Web transactions because of the Web's sheer size and overall lack of transaction security software. The consumer's best bet is to shop on reputable shopping sites, like AOL, AOL.COM and CompuServe, where transactions are 100% guaranteed for satisfaction and security -- or your money back. 4. Save Your Confirmation Notice. Ensure that you receive a confirmation notice via email when you place your online order -- and save it. Most reputable online retailers offer this service within 24 hours of making a purchase, or sooner if the items are purchased at the last minute. 5. Understand Your Shipping Options. Many sites now offer one or two day delivery options for an additional fee. Make sure you understand how long standard shipping will take and opt for express options if it's extremely close to the holiday. 6. Use Your Online Wallet A online wallet is a program or web service that allows users to store and control their online shopping information, like logins, passwords, shipping address and credit card details, in one central place. . Those last minute holiday shoppers who have left a majority, if not all, of their holiday shopping to the last minute should consider purchasing goods using an online "wallet" that safely stores your credit card and shipping information online. This feature is great for last minute shoppers, who, with limited time, demand a quick checkout process. AOL's Quick Checkout lets shoppers store key purchase information securely online, including 10 credit card numbers and up to 50 shipping addresses, making the "checkout" process as simple as a few clicks of the mouse. 7. Take Advantage of Online Resources for Perfect Gift Ideas. Get gift ideas quick by using AOL's Gift Finder online, or by talking live via phone with an AOL Holiday Shopping Helper representative (1-800-349-1995). 8. Find Out What's Hot This Year. If you are stumped stump n. 1. The part of a tree trunk left protruding from the ground after the tree has fallen or has been felled. 2. on what to buy someone, there are easy ways to get great ideas online. Message Boards, where AOL members are soliciting personal advice from others who in the same predicament, offer a great way to find gift ideas at the last minute. About AOL Shopping With more than 14 million members on AOL -- and millions more other Internet users Internet user n → internauta m/f Internet user Internet n → internaute m/f on AOL.COM -- America Online See AOL. is the undisputed leader in the online marketplace, bringing together the best roster of name-brand retail partners with the largest audience of shoppers anywhere in cyberspace Coined by William Gibson in his 1984 novel "Neuromancer," it is a futuristic computer network that people use by plugging their minds into it! The term now refers to the Internet or to the online or digital world in general. See Internet and virtual reality. Contrast with meatspace. . More people use America Online to shop than any other destination in cyberspace because, with more than 110 of the best brand name partners offering the largest variety of popular consumer products, AOL makes it easy and convenient for consumers to locate and buy the products they are looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. . With the Shopping Channel on AOL and AOL.COM, consumers need only visit one shopping site - rather than multiple stores - to find what they are interested in buying. All of this -- brand name merchants, one-stop-shopping, and great new features and programming -- makes AOL the most popular place to browse and e-shop this holiday season, and throughout the year. About America Online America Online, Inc., based in Dulles, Virginia Dulles, Virginia is an unincorporated census-designated place located in Loudoun County, Virginia, part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. The headquarters of AOL, Orbital Sciences Corporation and ODIN technologies and the former headquarters of MCI Inc. are located in Dulles. , is the world's leader in branded interactive services and content. America Online, Inc. operates two worldwide Internet online services: America Online, with more than 14 million members; and CompuServe, with approximately 2 million members. America Online, Inc. also operates AOL Studios, the world's leading creator of original interactive content. Other branded Internet services operated by America Online, Inc. include AOL.COM, the world's most accessed Web site from home; Digital City, Inc., the No. 1 local content network and community guide on AOL and the Internet; AOL NetFind, AOL's comprehensive guide to the Internet; AOL Instant Messenger See AIM. , an instant messaging Exchanging text messages in real time between two or more people logged into a particular instant messaging (IM) service. Instant messaging is more interactive than e-mail because messages are sent immediately, whereas e-mail messages can be queued up in a mail server for seconds or tool available on both AOL and the Internet; and ICQ ("I Seek You") A conferencing program for the Internet from Mirabilis, Tel Aviv, Israel (www.icq.com). It provides interactive chat, e-mail and file transfer and can alert you when someone on your predefined list has also come online. , an instant communications and chat technology on the Internet. |
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