BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : MARCH 6, 2000 ISSUE
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Fur and Fin PETS.COM This site is grabbing loads of attention. It has spent $21 million over the past year on advertising, including spots during the Super Bowl. It also has gotten a visibility boost from its alliance with Amazon.com, which owns 30% of the company. But there's one problem: Its financial results are dismal. To grab market share, it's offering shipping to the East Coast well below cost. That has helped boost sales to an annual rate of $20 million, while the company has lost $42 million. It did raise $82.5 million in a Feb. 11 initial public offering. PETSMART.COM This site has sacrificed hype for substance. It hasn't spent as heavily as Pets.com on promotions, but already its sales are running about $30 million annually. It has an edge in brand recognition because it's the dot-com operation of the country's largest pet supply chain. PETSMART.com plans to go public shortly and raise $115 million. PETOPIA.COM Its alliance with Petco, the second-largest pet supply retailer, gives Petopia.com critical assets. The site will have access to eight distribution centers for quick delivery, 500 retail stores that can be used for promotional opportunities, and a database of 5 million pet owners. Petopia is private and won't discuss its financials. PETSTORE.COM It has an alliance with Animal Planet, the cable channel with an average of 46 million viewers per month. The cable show promotes its animalplanet.com site for which Petstore provides the online commerce. It also offers loads of extras: For example, it's one of the few Web retailers to offer live tropical fish by overnight mail. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS For Online Pet Stores, It's Dog-Eat-Dog TABLE: Fur and Fin INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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