New Boutique E-tailing Index Tracks Emerging Trends Among Small and Mid-size Internet Companies. Significance of Lesser Known E-merchants Expected to Increase Says Public Eye.

Los Angeles, CA. -- April 19 1999 -- Citing the accelerating pace of small business activity on the Internet, Public eye announced today that it will publish a quarterly Boutique E-tailing Index (tm). The Index will track the trends emerging in this important market segment, gleaned from thousands of point-of-purchase consumer surveys by Public Eye. In the context of the Index, the term "boutique" is being used to expand the traditional definition of small business to include large companies that have limited on-line brand awareness. The Index will provide insight into e-commerce questions such as, who typically patronizes boutique e-merchants; what motivates consumers to shop at lesser known web sites; how much repeat business boutique e-merchants receive; and what attributes are most important to consumers when shopping a web site that is not an established brand.

"Beyond the Amazon.coms and the CDNows of cyberspace, there are over 1 million small businesses in America alone, poised to beat a path to the Internet. Currently, the individual data collected from small e-merchants is statistically insignificant. However, the aggregate data culled by Public Eye from thousands of transactions at over 5000 small web businesses seems to indicate that "boutique" merchants will play an increasingly significant role in the wired economy," says Errol Smith, co-founder of Public Eye.

The data Public Eye has collected so far reveals a number of significant trends to watch. Shoppers are going to boutique merchants with clear purpose. While 52% of shoppers make their first visit to boutique web sites to comparison shop or get information, 29% actually go to make a purchase.

Beyond the purchase, boutique shoppers are generally reporting high levels of customer satisfaction, rating boutique merchants particularly high in the area of personal service.

"Ultimately personal service may be the boutique e-merchant's competitive edge. The Internet allows for faster, more convenient, more efficient shopping, but this doesn't necessarily translate into more personal service. The smaller e-merchant is frequently so pleased to transact even a single a sale through their web site, that they routinely deliver a level of personal attention that established on-line brands may be hard pressed to match," says Smith.

The Boutique E-tailing Index is the product of thousands of reports received from the actual customers of over 5000 small to mid-sized Internet businesses. In the process of filing reports consumers are asked to evaluate the merchant for reliability, privacy practices, and over all customer satisfaction. key dimensions of the surveys include safety of payment process, reliability of product claims, management accessibility, on-time delivery, posted privacy policies, ease of ordering, ease of returns and customer loyalty.

Since 1996 Public Eye has been pioneering the use of customer feedback to promote safer e-commerce. From the beginning Public Eye has maintained a narrow focus on building e-consumer confidence among small to mid-sized Internet merchants. As the leading aggregator of customer satisfaction data in this market segment, Public Eye is uniquely positioned to report on the evolution of this sector.

For more information contact our office at 818/547-0222 or

wms@epubliceye.com or visit http://www.epubliceye.com

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