Yahoo! Shopping Launches Last Minute Gift Center; Holiday 2001 Consumer Shopping Trends Indicate Last Minute Shoppers Are Comfortable Ordering Gifts Online Through December 21

Business Wire, Dec 12, 2002

Business Editors/Retail Writers

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 12, 2002

Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO) today launched its popular Last Minute Gift Center (http://shopping.yahoo.com/lastminute), an area that conveniently brings together a massive online collection of retailers that can ship right up to December 24, 2002. Through its relationship with leading brand-name merchants, Yahoo!(R) Shopping is able to provide consumers with an easy to use one-stop shopping destination, which features more than 50 retailers who can deliver gifts just in time for the holidays.

In the final days leading up to Christmas 2001, consumers turned to Yahoo! Shopping to place their eleventh-hour orders, resulting in a three-fold surge in sales within the Last Minute Gift Center, over the prior week. Sales volume within the Last Minute Gift Center hit their highest marks on December 19-21, clearly indicating that shoppers are comfortable ordering gifts online even days before Christmas.

"Online consumer shopping patterns point to the growing popularity of the Internet as a reliable option for many last minute holiday shoppers," said Niki Pandey, director of production, Yahoo! Shopping. "In years past, it was thought that consumers would stop ordering gifts online after a certain date due to shipment and delivery concerns, but shopping online has prevailed as one of the easiest ways to shop for the holidays - especially when time is of the essence."

The site will be updated on a daily basis, and will only feature links to merchants who are able to deliver products before or on December 25. Online shoppers can access the Last Minute Gift Center directly at http://shopping.yahoo.com/lastminute or through the front page of Yahoo! Shopping at http://shopping.yahoo.com through December 24. Merchants like The Gap and Wal-Mart will clearly display shipping cut-off dates.

For consumers who prefer to send gift certificates, Yahoo! Shopping features an entire page dedicated to providing direct links to easily purchase gift cards from more than seventy brand name retailers.

About Yahoo! Shopping

With the widest selection of hundreds of brand name retailers and more than 13,000 specialty stores, Yahoo! Shopping is the premiere one-stop online shopping destination. The shopping experience at Yahoo is simple, secure and comprehensive, with one of the best comparison-shopping technologies to help ensure shoppers get the best deal. Rated the No.1 portal-shopping destination on the Web by Nielsen//NetRatings (October 2002), Yahoo! Shopping enables users to easily search, find, compare and buy almost anything online.

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! Inc. is a leading provider of comprehensive online products and services to consumers and businesses worldwide. Yahoo! is the No. 1 Internet brand globally and the most trafficked Internet destination worldwide. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., Yahoo!'s global network includes 25 World properties and is available in 13 languages.

Appendix I

Partial list from the collection of more than 50 merchants featured in
the Last Minute Gift Center.

1-800Flowers.com
American Eagle
Ashford
Barnes and Noble
Bombay Company
Circuit City
Crate & Barrel
Chef's
Diamond.Com
Discovery Store
Ebags
Fossil
FTD.COM
Gevalia
Godiva
Guild.com
Hallmark
Hpshopping.com
Ice.com
J.Jill
Kmart
LL Bean
Macy's
Neiman Marcus
Palm Store
Proflowers.com
Pottery Barn
Red Envelope
REI
Spiegel
Sports Authority
Tower Records
Victoria Secret
Williams Sonoma
World of Watches