Electronic Buzz

A year’s worth of free beer and a keg refrigerator for storage is the first prize in a Web contest launched in March by Beer.com, a vertical portal site for beer enthusiasts. The Win Beer For A Year contest offers other prizes including customized snowboards, T-shirts, and hats.

Originally launched as a small hobbyist site, Beer.com generates more than one million page views and delivers millions of e-mail messages each month, the company says. The contest is aimed at increasing site membership to more than 300,000.

Among the site’s promotional activities is the Beer Belly Bravado Contest, in which contestants vie for the designation of having the “best” beer gut. Site co-founder Michael Zapolin says a Beer.com Girl of the Month contest was recently added “in response to an overwhelming number of requests.”

Other innovative features include free postcards, a merchandise store, discussion areas, an irreverent beer humor archive, and a comprehensive home brewing section. “We’re striving to be the most entertaining, comprehensive, popular, and profitable beer-related site online,” says co-founder William Fisher.

Another attraction to be added is the WorldWide Party Index, which will allow visitors to enter their geographic location to find a custom schedule of beer-related events. The index will be accompanied by a Beer.Cam broadcasting live images from worldwide gatherings of beer enthusiasts.

Beauty Spot Thanks to the success of online promotions, strategic partners Synergy Brands Inc. and VisuaLink Technologies Inc., Portsmouth, NH, announced an agreement to further develop BeautyBuys.com by adding a separate drugstore category. The Web site currently offers popular health and beauty care items including professional salon hair products, designer fragrances, and cosmetics, company officials say.

Synergy president Henry Platek says initial positive response to BeautyBuys.com has spurred the company to accelerate its product line with a wider variety of over-the-counter drugstore products. All will be offered at substantial promotional discounts.

Synergy has online marketing agreements with Lycos, theglobe.com, and TheWomen.com Network. In addition, the company is in the process of producing TV spots to support online initiatives.

Front and Back Unicorp Inc., a Marietta, GA-based e-merchant processor, acquired Fletcher, NC-based Continuum Technology Corp., a well-known developer of front-end solutions for the point-of-sale market.

Unicorp makes a Universal Payments Software package and other transaction processors worldwide. Continuum conducts business globally through partnerships, resellers, and direct sales. It targets large first- and second-tier merchants – chains greater than 20 stores – through resellers and direct sales. Its clients include A&P, Bi-Lo Supermarkets, and Equifax. “Unicomp offers back-end solutions for e-commerce, Continuum offers front-end solutions,” Shaver says. “That’s what makes this work.”

Unicorp ceo Stephen Hafer says Continuum has already booked purchase orders for in-store solutions worth approximately $5 million for this fiscal year. “This acquisition complements our growth strategy,” he says.

A Mall in Your Computer Cool Savings and General Growth Properties Inc., both of Chicago, signed an agreement to launch a Web site offering Internet coupons from local and national merchants at 36 of General Growth’s regional shopping malls nationwide.

The site will allow shoppers to visit the Cool Savings Web site, www.coolsavings.com, and download coupons to be redeemed by their favorite local retailers.

“The Cool Savings program will add great value and convenience for our customers,” says General Growth Properties vp Mark Klockner.

Dubbed Cool Malls, the program lets national mall-based chains, department stores, and other retailers in General Growth malls post offers on a customized, co-branded Web page accessible through the primary Cool Savings site.

Shoppers gain access to targeted special offers and promotions from their neighborhood retailers, as well as from Cool Savings’ extensive list of national chains.

Retailers can track which offers are most effective with shoppers and tailor future promos based on those results, company officials say.