Sears, Roebuck and Co., Hoffman Estates, IL and Dulles, VA-based America Online, Inc. have joined forces to market AOL’s interactive products and services to Sears customers nationwide.
Simultaneously, Sears merchandise and services will be marketed to AOL members as well as visitors to its web-based brands.
As part of the agreement, AOL will become Sears’ preferred online service provider, and a special co-branded edition of AOL with links to Sears will be developed and promoted to Sears customers and in dedicated locations in the retailer’s 858 full-line store locations. Special offers will exist for Sears Premier Card holders, and Sears customers will have the option of paying for monthly AOL subscriptions with their Sears Card, the nation’s largest proprietary credit card, with 39 million active card holders.
In addition, AOL plans to develop a co-branded instant message service that will enable consumers to initiate online, real-time communications with Sears customer service, as well as with friends, family and business colleagues.
Sears customers will be able to subscribe to a special co-branded edition of the AOL software that will be developed to include special Sears offers and convenient links to sears.com and other Sears interactive sites. The specialized version of AOL with links to Sears is expected to launch in the second half of 2000.
Under the agreement, joint Sears/AOL offerings will be made available to nearly 60 million Sears customers nationwide. Sears will also promote AOL and its in-store offerings in its print and television advertising programs and in other promotional and marketing campaigns and will make special offers to AOL members. AOL will provide prominent branding and promotion of Sears online businesses across America Online brands including AOL, AOL.COM, CompuServe, Netscape Netcenter and Digital City, as well as Shop@ online shopping destinations across these brands.
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