Taking e-commerce to the masses

Vstore wants to do for e-commerce what GeoCities did for home pages. The Stamford, Conn., startup is testing a Web site that takes affiliate programs one step further. Consumers can create entire Web stores, with all the customer service, transaction processing and fulfillment taken care of by Vstore. They_ll even host the site. Users make a commission on each sale made through their site, with paybacks ranging from five to 25 percent. The program will initially feature books, music, videos (DVD and VHS), sporting goods, video games and some consumer electronics, and plans to add computer hardware and software, appliances, toys, fragrances, accessories and gift items.The company is looking to capitalize on the popularity of affiliate programs, which let people put links to merchants on their Web sites and offer a commission when a sale is made. The programs have become extremely popular with merchants, since they only have to pay for the promotion if it translates to a sale. Barnesandnoble.com recently launched a personalized program that would allow consumers to e-mail a recommendation to a friend using a special URL, which would let them earn commissions on any sales. The Vstore program allows consumers to choose from several different storefront templates, adjust the look and feel, and use their own text copy with links and logos. Users can also select what kind of merchandise they want to carry, setting themselves up as a children_s bookstore or soccer equipment seller, for example. Future options will let consumers get even more specific, tailoring a site to a particular interest or category.