Yahoo 2001 Annual Report Download - page 10

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Yahoo! Shopping network is the only major portal that combines four distinct services — Shopping, Auctions,
Classifieds and Warehouse (overstocks and special bargains on commodity goods). All four services share a
universal search engine, making it easy for consumers to research, compare and buy almost anything online.
The fast-growing shoppers’ paradise features millions of products, from hundreds of brand name retailers and
thousands of specialty stores. In February 2002, Nielsen// Net Ratings ranked Yahoo! Shopping as the No. 1por-
tal shopping destination on the Web and the No. 2Internet shopping destination overall.
Our Commerce business also includes Yahoo! Travel, a comprehensive online travel resource and booking
service for the recreational and business traveler, bringing together the best travel information and service
providers in one place. Throughout 2001, Yahoo! Travel developed new product features, direct marketing pro-
grams and personalized services to provide one-stop access to its network of 700 airlines, 50 car rental agen-
cies and 50,000 hotels through a partnership with Travelocity. We also joined forces with National Leisure
Group to provide a broad selection of 5,000 cruise and vacation packages, bookable both online and over the
telephone. We plan to continue to expand Yahoo! Travel’s presence and offerings in 2002 to take advantage of
this rapidly growing market.
Combined, our global commerce businesses (including Yahoo! Japan) enabled more than $5.4 billion in
transactions during 2001 — $1.5 billion during the fourth-quarter holiday season.
Multiple sources of revenue. Yahoo! doesn’t purchase or inventory products. We are an intermediary, linking
buyers and sellers. Our online commerce activities generate diverse revenue streams from advertising, partner
fees and a variety of transaction and listing revenues. In 2001, approximately 80–85% of our Commerce busi-
ness revenues were ad-based. Over the next three to five years, we intend to shift that balance to a larger
emphasis on transactional revenue and other performance-based models.
To add value to our merchants and increase both transactions and sales, we continue to innovate new
services that leverage Yahoo!’s global reach. In 2001, our new recommendation technology — which suggests
products to users based on their searching and browsing behavior — helped to significantly increase impulse
purchases.
And we’ve made it just as easy to complete the sale using Yahoo! Wallet — a safe, simple and secure way
for registered consumers to buy online.
E-commerce that delivers
Karin Salmon
Director, Commerce Production
Shopping
Commerce:
Building an Internet shopping
model that really clicks.
In March 2002, Yahoo! launched the ground-breaking “Biggest Sale in Internet History,” featuring nearly 1,000 sales and promotional
offers. During the three-day sale, brand name retailers, travel suppliers, specialty stores and Yahoo!’s own for-pay services experi-
enced a significant surge in sales. Revenues increased by as much as 500% for some merchants.