Avoiding Holiday Headaches

Friday, March 1, 2002

GIVING IDEAS? Avoiding Holiday Headaches (NAPSA)—According to several consumer-spending experts, online retailers are expected to fare better than their offline counterparts this holiday season. They point to the growing comfort level with online shopping, and the added convenience and time-savings that can be especially valuable to consumers during the stressful holiday season. The economy mayalso be a factor as many shoppers are finding financial incentives to shopping on the Web. One e-tailer positioned to fare well this holiday is drugstore.com. Entering its fourth holiday season, the online drugstore has just rolled out an incentive program to entice shoppers to their site. In addition to everyday free shipping on nonprescription orders over $49, the site will offer a five percent credit on every purchase that can be used toward future purchases. But, according to Sharon Wikstrom, the merchandising director for drugstore.com,it’s the one-of-akind assortment that’s going to draw holiday shoppers to thesite. In addition to the classics like Sonicare, electric shavers, and HoMedics massagers, drugstore.com has hand-picked a selection of 200 gifts that inspire health and wellness. What does drugstore.com expect to be its top-selling holiday gifts? Given thestress-filled year Americans have experienced, it anticipates success with pampering gifts like the new gingerbread man hot salt scrub from philosophy and the microwavable herbal booties from DreamTime. Thesite also expects that many shoppers will be looking for value and affordable gifts, like the Burt’s Bees Head to Toe kit—a 13- Online holiday-shopping specials can save consumers time and money. piece natural skin-care kit for $11.99—and the Bloom Foot Care Pamper Pack for $12, which includes packets of soaks, scrubs, and balms infused with peppermint andorangeoils. In its holiday assortment, drugstore.com has a category dedicated to romantic gifts that includes a Holly Cane gift set from Chocoholics with five mini jars of chocolate body frosting and a paintbrush. Finally, the store expects suc- cess with its educational games and crafts for kids, like the 50th Anniversary edition of the nostalgic favorite Colorforms, and in trendy gifts for pets—for example, the highly publicized Panic Mouse should keep the family feline entertained for hours. Drugstore.com is convinced that online holiday shoppers will be drawnto their site by the free shipping, savings programs, and one- of-a-kind assortment. As for the non-Internet types, drugstore.com set up a toll-free number (1-800378-4786), so that even they can enjoy the convenience and timesavings of online shopping.

--- PHOTOS ---

File: 20190801-090511-20190801-090509-55317.pdf.jpg

--- FILES ---

File: 20190801-090509-55317.pdf