REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 9, 1999 — In a season of intense competition to attract and retain online shoppers, Microsoft Corp. today announced that MSN TM eShop, the place for consumers to easily find, decide on and buy what they want, achieved astounding customer satisfaction in its first month of business. A new study by E-valuations Research showed that almost four out of five shoppers were likely to return to MSN eShop for future purchases, and 85 percent rated the site as good as or better than any other shopping site on the Internet they’d visited.
“The true measure of success for MSN eShop is how well we meet the needs of online shoppers,”
said Yusuf Mehdi, director of marketing for the Consumer Group at Microsoft.
“We designed MSN eShop to help shoppers find exactly what they want to buy, and we are thrilled that MSN eShop is making it easier for people to shop online this holiday season.”
Consumers Are Happy With Results From MSN eShop
The E-valuations Research survey of MSN eShop showed that online shoppers are satisfied with their experiences finding, researching and purchasing products and services from a variety of top merchants on MSN eShop. Specific survey results include the following:
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Eighty-five percent of consumers surveyed felt that MSN eShop was as good as or better than other online shopping sites they’d been to.
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Seventy-eight percent of MSN eShop users said they were likely to return to the service for future purchases.
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Over 60 percent of MSN eShop users visited an eShop merchant.
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Ninety-two percent of MSN eShop users had researched a product or service online in the past year, and 64 percent had purchased online in the past year.
According to details announced in a related release last week (
“MSN eShop Traffic to Merchants Increases Over 600 Percent in First Full Week of Holiday Shopping”
), the number of consumers visiting MSN eShop and continuing through to a merchant site increased over 600 percent from the numbers MSN Shopping experienced during the same period last year. In addition to phenomenal growth in connecting shoppers to the right merchants, MSN eShop reflects a threefold increase in the number of unique visitors MSN Shopping experienced during the same period last year. This information indicates that consumers are taking advantage of the easy-to-use buyer’s guides and product-comparison tools on MSN eShop and are finding what they are looking for.
MSN eShop Continues to Make Shopping Easier and Offers Free Shipping
To make it even easier for shoppers to find exactly what they want to buy on the Web, MSN eShop has added an easy-to-find Search box in the upper-left corner of the MSN eShop navigation bar so shoppers can search on any page of the site. Also, as a special holiday gift to MSN eShop customers, a rotating list of merchants are offering free shipping through Dec. 18, 1999. Offers vary among participating retailers and certain restrictions apply.
In addition, shoppers will find even more convenience on MSN eShop with the Microsoft Passport wallet. Shoppers simply fill out shipping and billing information one time, in one form, then use the Passport wallet across MSN eShop merchants supporting the Passport wallet.
Merchants supporting Microsoft Passport can be found in the Express Purchase section of MSN eShop.
About MSN
MSN is the network of Internet services from Microsoft that helps people better organize the Web around what’s important to them. The network of MSN services, located on the Web at MSN.com TM ( http://MSN.com/ ), helps people make smart and secure purchasing decisions, easily stay in touch with friends and colleagues, and get more done. MSN offers award-winning e-mail functionality; personal communications services; wireless services information; customizable access to news; popular sites for personal finance, travel, automotive services, shopping and more; an online community; a Web search engine and directories; and top-rated Internet access.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
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