REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 14, 2004 —
— If you’ve been stuck on the couch drinking eggnog and watching TV while your friends were starting their holiday shopping, you’re not alone. Last year, the average consumer still had more than 48 percent of his holiday shopping to do a week before Christmas, according to the National Retail Federation 2003 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey. Fortunately, Procrastination Central at MSN®
Shopping can help you find the perfect gifts for your loved ones and make sure they arrive in the nick of time.
Launching today in the United States on MSN Shopping, Procrastination Central ( http://shopping.msn.com ) offers last-minute shoppers a “cheat sheet” that is updated daily listing all the stores that can deliver gifts in time for the holidays. The site has great gifts from hundreds of top retailers including Circuit City, Blue Nile Inc., drugstore.com inc., JCPenney, RedEnvelope Inc., Eddie Bauer Inc., Horchow and ProFlowers, to name a few — and you don’t have to fight the crowds at the mall to get them.
“Thanks to Procrastination Central, you can go to one place to do all your shopping, even if you wait until the last minute,” said Julie Blackwell, business manager for MSN Shopping. “And while your friends are wasting gas stuck in traffic at the mall, you can pour yourself another eggnog and easily finish all your shopping without leaving the comfort of your chair.”
If you’re just getting started on your holiday shopping, Procrastination Central offers the following features that make it easy to find the perfect gifts for the important people in your life:
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Gift Guides. If you need some ideas to help you get motivated, MSN Shopping gift guides list the hottest items in a wide variety of categories, including clothing, electronics and books, eliminating the hassle of sorting through thousands of products. Compiled by shopping experts, notable categories this year include Corporate Gifts, Gifts that Wow and Gifts under $25.
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Search. Get the gift you want at the price you want by using MSN Shopping Search to compare products from dozens of merchants side by side based on features, prices and reviews.
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Return Center. Quickly get all the information you need on returns, shipping, taxes and customer service policies for hundreds of brand-name retailers all in one place by visiting the MSN Shopping Return Center.
About MSN
MSN attracts more than 360 million unique users worldwide per month. With localized versions available globally in 40 markets and 20 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering Web services to consumers and online advertising opportunities to businesses worldwide. The most useful and innovative online service today, MSN brings consumers everything they need from the Web to make the most of their time online. MSN is located on the Web at http://www.msn.com . MSN worldwide sites are located at http://www.msn.com/worldwide.ashx .
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
Microsoft and MSN are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
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