Alice, a different Amazon retail site eqzl

Neither of them had any retail experience. What prompted the two to enter the $350 billion consumer products retail market? Wiegand said, "When we left Microsoft, we wanted to start something new." Undoubtedly, they were challenging success. Others had previously attempted to enter the online consumer products market. The most famous was Webvan. Now, there are several strong competitors in the online retail sector. Amazon has launched consumer product services such as food, diapers, and cleaning agents in addition to books and electronics. Since 1998, Drugstore.com has provided about 45,000 products directly to users without transactions but has been struggling for profitability, with a loss of $8.3 million last year. Additionally, nearly 100 retail stores claim to offer online ordering services through the MyWebGrocer electronic trading platform. MyWebGrocer's director Mike Spindler said, "The competition is fiercer than we imagined."

The founders of Alice stated, "We are not retailers." Alice provides a trading platform for consumer goods manufacturers, allowing them to sell directly to consumers bypassing traditional retailers. Alice does not profit from selling products. Manufacturers set the product prices, and Alice completes customer service, giving 35% of the sales price to the manufacturers. Shipping is free, and the company hopes to offer low-priced products to compete with discount retailers like Walmart. It is difficult to make a profit by selling only one product on Alice, so users must purchase at least six products before payment. During the testing phase, the average user spent $50 on Alice, purchasing about 11 products. Neil Stern, a partner at retail consulting firm McMillan Doolittle, said, "This idea is interesting."

Suzanne Clarridge is skeptical about Alice's model. She operates the "My Brands" website, which sells about 11,000 products, many produced by small and medium-sized manufacturers who lack national distribution channels in the retail industry. Having been in online retail for eight years, she requires users to purchase at least four products to achieve profitability. "I don't know how Alice can profit from free shipping; even Amazon can't do that."

Alice aims to achieve profitability through advertising activities such as coupons, loyalty programs, or keyword sponsorships. Alice believes that manufacturers will be very interested in the large amount of user purchasing habit and brand data collected by their website. "It's a service, like Netflix, not a store," Wiegand predicted that there would be approximately 2.5 million users within the first year of the website's launch.

Alice also incorporates social network elements, allowing users to upload actual product images and communicate in a section called "Me, My Shelf, and I."

Retailers and consumer product experts point out that Alice.com's business model is attractive, but success may still depend on the participation of brand manufacturers. Currently, not all manufacturers are interested in this model. The founders stated that half of the products currently sold on the site come from manufacturers who have not yet signed agreements with Alice.com, meaning that Alice.com must pay product costs to wholesalers. They pointed out that if these manufacturers do not sign up after a few months of the site's launch, their products will eventually be discontinued. Consumer brand expert Ken Harris is not optimistic about Alice.com's approach because the site's success depends on the participation of brand manufacturers.

However, the two founders believe that consumer goods manufacturers will eventually join. They pointed out that if retailers can produce and market brands or products like manufacturers, why can't manufacturers act like retailers? This situation has already occurred. Earlier this month, Procter & Gamble announced its direct entry into the retail market by acquiring The Art of Shaving.

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