| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : NOVEMBER 15, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
| ||||||||
 | ||||||||
| BUSINESSWEEK LIFESTYLE
E-Tips for Europe's Santas APPAREL Alas, most sites are difficult to use or poorly stocked, and many won't ship across national borders. Big U.S. e-retailer gap.com won't ship to Europe, either. A few specialty retailers, such as Swedish menswear company dressmart.com, have attractive, user-friendly sites, though. BOOKS Amazon.com is challenging Bertelsmann's bol.com in Britain, sparking a price war. Belgium's Proxis.be, with books in English, French, and Flemish, undersells competitors in France. Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. (In all five countries, minimum book prices are set by law.) GOURMET Online grocery shopping hasn't caught on, but tasty opportunities abound. Try France's fromages.com, where you can learn all about cheese besides buying it. JackScaife.co.uk offers bacon from a longtime Yorkshire butcher. France's ChateauOnline.com gets high marks from connoisseurs. MUSIC Sweden's Boxman.com offers great selection, although customers say delivery can be slow. Bertelsmann's bol.com and Amazon.com have just started selling CDs on their European sites. Keep an eye on fnac.fr, the site of France's leading CD seller, FNAC, which is upgrading service. TOYS & GIFTS U.S. e-retailers such as eToys.com are launching European sites and have scant local competition. For gifts, try best-of-italy.com, which sells Venetian glass and cappuccino makers, or IrelandGifts.com. Germany's Erzgebirgsladen.de sells nutcrackers and ornaments. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
|  |
 | |
RELATED ITEMS Europe's Not-So-Merry E-Christmas (int'l edition) TABLE: E-Tips for Europe's Santas INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online | |||
