Trying to Return to Normal, 70 e-Tailers Get a Jump on Holiday Shopping with the Launch of ePublicEye's Safe Shopping Radio Network, a Fresh Approach to Online Selling.

Next generation shopping site aims to connect e-tailers with the one third of on-line shoppers who buy twice as much as the other two thirds.

Los Angeles, CA. -- October 17, 2001 -- ePublicEye, the leading consumer confidence solution among small and mid-sized e-businesses, today launched the Safe Shopping Radio Network (SSRN). A new approach to selling on the Internet, SSRN is the first shopping site aimed exclusively at "Power Shoppers", those Internet shoppers who spend more time, more money online, are more likely to "click through" and more likely to buy. SSRN features e-tailers in 3-minute, made-for-Internet audio infomercials that offer consumers answers to the company's top five most frequently asked questions. Focused on the goal of being truly relevant to consumers, the audio features offer the kind of useful product and service information Power Shoppers care about most.

"The facts are overwhelming; Internet Power Shoppers spent $1200 online over the last 12 months and will spend over $1600 in the coming months. This group represents just one third of Internet shoppers, but they buy twice as much as the other two thirds. SSRN speaks directly to these Internet shoppers - literally." said Errol Smith, co-founder of ePublicEye.com.

Several internal and external surveys have helped ePublicEye identify the profile of Internet Power Shoppers and supplied the support for using audio programming to reach them. One study by Dr. Gene Brown, Professor of Marketing at the University of Missouri, found that Internet Power Shoppers are affluent, young (average age 37), have high-speed connections at home and at work and concluded that e-tailers should target this group. Related Studies by the Yankee Group found that Power Shoppers are more likely to sample audio applications on the web and that though e-businesses are just starting to look at audio applications, the shoppers that e-tailers are seeking to attract are already embracing online audio and video. Most importantly, the Yankee Group study reported increased conversion rates and sales by sites that have added streaming media to their e-tail sites and concluded that Internet audio and video "converts one-time window shoppers into buyers." Finally, an Arbitron Study found that 70 percent of those who listen to online audio, click through for content information and almost 60 percent click through for more information while they are tuned in. Almost half (49 percent) of the webcast audience buys advertised products online.

"For ePublicEye the case for adding audio was clear. Almost every Internet shopper has a few critical questions that must be answered before he/she makes a purchase. Audio FAQ's help e-tailers communicate more effectively with first-time visitors and provide sound answers at that critical point of decision where the shopper is considering making a purchase." says Errol Smith, co-founder of ePublicEye. "Moreover, our preliminary test confirmed that audio FAQ's help raise the comfort level of online shoppers by giving them a better sense of who is behind the web site, how knowledgeable they are about their products and services and how customer friendly the company is. You just have to listen once and it becomes clear how audio FAQ's give information critical to the sale that you just can't get on a text only site." says Smith.

In addition, the SSRN has a viral marketing and shopper rewards system built into the search results. Shoppers who listen to the e-tailer's audio FAQ's may be offered a discount as an incentive to pass the audio program on to a friend via email. E-tailers can change the discount amount at any time and as frequently as they wish, experimenting till they find the incentive that generates the most referral traffic. "This is truly a revolutionary development in the search engine model. Tell-friend-buttons are not new. But producing search results that marry relevant audio shopping information, a Tell-a Friend feature, a discount to motivate pass-a-longs, a mechanism for confirming the privacy of email addresses submitted, customer satisfaction ratings, and comparison shopping all in a one place was unheard of to this point." says Smith. According to a Jupiter Communications survey, 45 percent of online shoppers choose e-commerce Web sites based on word-of-mouth recommendations. At the same time IDC reports that the average cost to get a new customer is $95 and rising. SSRN helps e-tailers expand their reach, reduce customer acquisition costs and get the most out of their search engine listing by giving shoppers an incentive and a comfort level to tell a friend.

Supporting ePublicEye's belief that Safe Shopping Radio's time has come is an August study by Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) entitled 'The Internet & Streaming: What Consumers Want Next.' According to the report, the percentage of Internet users who have tried streaming media has risen to 52 percent of online Americans or approximately 78 million people. "Consumers are tuning into Webcast in record numbers," said Bill Rose, Vice President of Arbitron Webcast Services. This mirrors ePublicEye's findings. "We haven't even officially launched the SSRN, but the audio programs have already become the most popular feature on the ePublicEye site. This is clearly the next wave and we're excited to help pioneer it." said Smith.

Some 70 forward looking ePublicEye members have already signed up for an audio listing on the Safe Shopping Radio Network during the pre-launch. 26 have already been added to the search engine and appear at the top of the search results in their respective categories. They include:

• AAA Remotes
• Baby Buzz'r International, LC
• Booklines Hawaii Ltd.
• Chuck D'Ambra Coins
• ClearFlite, Inc.
• CORE Music Books and Supplies
• Discount-Tools.com
• Epub2k Books
• Flying Pirate
• Frontier Pharmaceutical, Inc.
• GoldenMine.com
• Hanky Kids
• House of Canes
• Kalil Import/Export Marketing, Inc.
• Picture Me Perfect
• Pinultimate Pins and Brooches
• Polar Clear Water Distillers
• Portrait Artist-Art That Celebrates Life
• Qualte.com
• RF International Corp.
• Robozone
• T. Seaver Photography
• The Cultured Pearl
• Truly Yours Gifts & Collectibles