Retail giants expand Net efforts

 

latest developments

As the holiday shopping season grows nearer, venerable consumer brands such as Williams-Sonoma and Consumer Reports broaden their services online and add familiarity to the Web. "This seems to be a rapidly changing marketplace, and if you're not unique, what's your value [to the customer]?" - Clay Ryder, Zona Research analyst

Williams-Sonoma cooks up e-commerce site The home furnishings retailer unveils its new Web store, which allows customers to purchase the company's cookware and kitchen furnishings. Consumer Reports Online reviews Net stores The watchdog's new service, dubbed e-Ratings, marks Consumer Reports' biggest foray yet into the online world. Department stores find way to Web retail In its first step toward launching full-scale Web stores, Dayton Hudson--owner of department stores Marshall Field's, Dayton's, and Hudson's--has this week put up beta sites for all three chains.