AOL Says Holiday Season Brings Members Online to Do Their Shopping, Many for the First Time.DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 25, 1998-- Research Shows That 20% Of Shoppers Purchasing on 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. Are First-Time Buyers first-time buyer n → persona que compra su primera vivienda first-time buyer n → personne achetant une maison ou un appartement pour la première fois first-time buyer ; Converting "Window-Shoppers" to First-Time Buyers Is A Key Retail Strategy This Holiday Season Study Shows 94% Of New AOL Shoppers, Attracted by Ease and Convenience, Will Buy Online Again Electronic commerce leader America Online See AOL. is predicting that millions of its members getting "online" rather than "in line" to shop this holiday season will be doing so for the first time. And the experience will be so convenient and rewarding for them that they'll come back for more. These trends are behind a critical strategy for AOL this holiday season: to lure online "window shoppers" into becoming first-time and then repeat buyers by making the experience easy, fun, safe and convenient, with an array of shopping features and special services. 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 leading "e-tail" expert and Vice President of Electronic Commerce, said, "Every week during the last month, we've seen that 20% of the buyers making purchases on AOL are first-time buyers, indicating that more and more new shoppers are discovering the benefits of e-commerce. "Nobody makes e-commerce as easy and enjoyable as AOL; we are laser-focused on making the entire e-commerce experience as simple as possible for consumers by giving them the tools they need -- like our Gift Finder, Gift Reminder and Quick Gifts areas, our Quick Checkout feature and our 100% Guarantee of satisfaction and security." Brown continued, "As stores and schedules get crowded during the holiday season, the ease and convenience of online shopping becomes very inviting. And we're working to make the experience even more enjoyable and rewarding so that buyers will get into the online shopping habit." Once an Online Shopper, Always an Online Shopper? Surveys conducted for AOL found that those who shop online are likely to make shopping a habit, are likely to recommend it to others, and are in fact finding it easier than "offline" shopping: -- Among AOL members who have shopped online, 94% are likely to purchase again and 94% have recommended it to a friend, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. research conducted by Ascolese Associates, a firm specializing in information-based marketing solutions for the telecommunications Communicating information, including data, text, pictures, voice and video over long distance. See communications. , online and interactive industries. -- In fact, having caught the online shopping bug, interactive purchasers are likely to purchase three items or more every six months, according to research produced for AOL by Digital Marketing Services, an online research company based in Dallas. -- An AOL/Roper Starch starch, white, odorless, tasteless, carbohydrate powder. It plays a vital role in the biochemistry of both plants and animals and has important commercial uses. survey found that 85 percent of people who shop online say it is "easier than the traditional way they used to shop." -- AOL anticipates its average shopper will make more than one-third of his or her total holiday purchases online this year. AOL's Ten Tips For Holiday E-Shopping To help make the experience as quick, easy, safe and enjoyable as possible for first-time buyers, Brown suggests shoppers follow her "10 Tips for Holiday E-Shopping": No. 1. Look For One-Stop Shopping Destinations. Searching through the millions of Websites offering online shopping, many with their own complex navigation and check-out processes, can make holiday e-shopping time-consuming and frustrating frus·trate tr.v. frus·trat·ed, frus·trat·ing, frus·trates 1. a. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart: . So look for a "one-stop shopping destination" that offers direct access to a wide variety of brand-name products. AOL's Shopping Channel Shopping channels are television specialty channels that present shopping related content, particularly for home shopping enthusiasts. Home shopping pioneers:
No. 2. Make Sure Your E-Stores Have Policies to Protect YOU. Not every Website guarantees shoppers' safety and satisfaction. So before you buy, closely review the retailer's security and return policies to ensure that it provides a comprehensive money-back-guarantee. All transactions conducted on the AOL and AOL.COM Shopping Channels are backed by the company's Certified See certification. Merchant Guarantee program - making them two of the safest shopping destinations 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. . No. 3. Know How to Ask and Where to Look for Help. Customer service representatives are available to help you in most e-stores, and so are special areas that cater to your specific needs as a first-time buyer. This season, AOL will make it easy for first-time buyers with a Member Specials area including a quick online shopping tutorial An instructional book or program that takes the user through a prescribed sequence of steps in order to learn a product. Contrast with documentation, which, although instructional, tends to group features and functions by category. See tutorials in this publication. , a selection of merchandise under $20 and detailed information on the AOL Guarantee. AOL members can access this information starting early in December at KEYWORD: Specials and on the "First Time Visitors" screen on AOL's Shopping Channel. No. 4. Use the Shopping Services Available to You. To help you score with the perfect gift, a number of shopping search features are now available online. AOL's new Gift Finder feature is a great way to select that special something for those on your holiday shopping list. AOL also offers Gift Lists, which let you "click" on gifts you want and then e-mail the list to parents, grandparents grandparents npl → abuelos mpl grandparents grand npl → grands-parents mpl grandparents grand npl , friends, family ... and Santa. Additional services include: Gift Reminders, to help you remember those important gift-giving dates and holidays; gift wrapping services; and electronic greeting cards See e-card. . No. 5. Be a Bargain Bug. Daily bargains, including some that can't be offered in "brick and mortar See bricks and mortar. stores," are regularly featured online. To take advantage of the best bargains, like those found in America Online's Deals & Steals area, be an online bargain bug and log on daily! You can also subscribe to Verb 1. subscribe to - receive or obtain regularly; "We take the Times every day" subscribe, take buy, purchase - obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction; "The family purchased a new car"; "The conglomerate acquired a new company"; online newsletters to get the latest on the hottest discounts. No. 6 Don't Forget Your "Wallet." To ensure your online shopping experience is quick and hassle-free, sign up with "wallet" services that safely store your credit card and shipping information online. This feature will allow for a quick checkout process so that you do not have to repeatedly enter your credit card and shipping information every time you want to make a purchase. 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. No. 7. Procrastinate pro·cras·ti·nate v. pro·cras·ti·nat·ed, pro·cras·ti·nat·ing, pro·cras·ti·nates v.intr. To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness. v.tr. without Guilt If you're among the 40% of Americans who wait until the last minute to shop, have no fear! You'll appreciate the amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. selection of gifts offered online that are guaranteed to arrive at your door in time for the holidays. AOL features a special Quick Gifts area offering more than 200 products, all guaranteed to arrive either 24- or 48-hours after the purchase is made. Many of the merchants will even wrap the gift and sign the card for you, too -- the ultimate in convenience. No. 8. Find that Hot Toy ... Without the "Jingle All the Way" Hassle One of the best-kept secrets about online shopping: Some of the hottest toys and other gifts are usually available online even after they have sold out at your favorite stores. So, if the shelves at the mall are empty, you still have a good chance of finding that hard-to-find toy in AOL's Shopping Channel. No. 9. Look for Convenient Search and Navigation Features Rather than searching endlessly from site to site, several shopping search functions are now available online to help consumers quickly and easily locate the products or brands they want to buy online. America Online offers "Keywords," or shortcuts See Win Shortcuts. to your favorite places online, and a new search function that allows members to shop name by store name or product. This holiday season, AOL shoppers who want direct access to the Shopping Channel or any of its 110 partner sites can simply type Keyword: "shopping" or the store's name and be instantly transported to that site. To focus their searches even more, shoppers can visit the Shopping Channel and quickly locate a product by its brand name. No. 10. Take Advantage of 'Round the Clock Shopping. Shop early; shop late! Online stores are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So, shop during your lunch hour, over your morning coffee, or when the kids are nestled nes·tle v. nes·tled, nes·tling, nes·tles v.intr. 1. To settle snugly and comfortably: The cat nestled among the pillows. 2. snug in their beds. 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 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. 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, 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, a leading builder of Internet brands for new market segments. 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 branded 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 communication and chat technology on the Internet. Video News Release: Wednesday, November 25, 1998 -- 10:30 - 11:00 AM - C-band, Telstar 4 (C), Transponder 9, Audio 6.2/6.8 Wednesday, November 25, 1998 -- 3:00 - 3:30 PM - C-band, Telstar 5 (C), Transponder 17, Audio 6.2/6.8 Thursday, November 26, 1998 -- 4:00 - 4:30 AM - C-band, Galaxy 6 (C), Transponder 11, Audio 6.2/6.8 Friday, November 27, 1998 -- 12:30 - 1:00 PM - C-band, Galaxy 6 (C), Transponder 9, Audio 6.2 /6.8 |
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