Six wins bolster DoubleClick’s portfolio of e-commerce sites

DoubleClick has won the sales contracts for a string of big-name

shopping sites - including QXL.com - and housed them in its new

e-commerce group.

The portfolio will be sold to advertisers on the basis that surfers who

access shopping sites already have spending on their minds when they

encounter banners ads.

Aside from QXL - the biggest contract win - DoubleClick has been hired

by five other e-commerce sites. These are Jungle, which sells computer

equipment, price comparison site Kelkoo, general e-commerce site

LetsBuyIt, CD and DVD site Boxman and auction site eBid.

DoubleClick has already sold banners, buttons and sponsorships on behalf

of the e-commerce sites Loot, AltaVista shopping, Egg shopping and CD

Now. These sites have also been drafted into the portfolio.

Mylen Noual, a member of DoubleClick’s business development unit, will

visit agencies with sales representatives to present the e-commerce

’affinity group’.

The websites will be offered to clients alongside DoubleClick’s existing

ten groups. These include Search Directories and IPS, which houses

AltaVista; Automotive, which encompasses MaxPower.com; and Business and

Finance, which includes FTyourmoney.

Eric Stein, managing director of DoubleClick, said: ’Reaching an

audience who are shopping online across the breadth of sites we now

offer is an incredible opportunity. With the approaching shopping season

and the continued growth of internet penetration into mainstream

society, the e-commerce affinity will be highly effective for

advertisers. Each e-commerce site is the business leader in its

sector.’

The appointment of a sales house marks a departure for QXL, which had

previously only sold a portion of its site to a handful of clients, such

as the online bank Marbles (Media Business, 10 July).

The auction site is set to go head to head with rival eBay, which

appointed Nicky Coxson sales chief last month.

DoubleClick is offering banner advertising, site sponsorship and e-mail

sponsorship on QXL, which sends 750,000 e-mails a week to registered

subscribers.

The first campaigns managed by DoubleClick are expected to break in two

to three weeks.

The sales house pointed out that 7.5 per cent of the UK’s retail sales

will move online by the year 2005, according to a recent report by

Fletcher Research. This will result in a sharp rise in online retail

revenue, which is predicted to grow from pounds 1.7 billion in 2000 to

more than pounds 20 billion by 2005.

This article was first published on Campaign