| [London, ENGLAND] Supermarket chain Tesco and iVillage, Inc.
have launched iVillage.co.uk, an online community for women
backed with a US $66 million investment.
Women are expected to make up 60 percent of the U.K. online
audience by 2005, according to Tesco, and the new site is
intended to dominate this market in both the U.K. and
the Republic of Ireland.
Hillary Graves, joint managing director of iVillage UK,
described the site as being the place women will go to find
information and support around the most important issues in
their lives.
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"We're in an excellent position to launch as our U.S. site,
iVillage.com, already has 200,000 UK users - which tells us
there is a strong consumer need - and we have a fully funded
business plan that will take us through to profitability,"
said Graves.
The U.K. site launches with channels covering such subjects
as Computers and Internet, Diet and Fitness, Food, Horoscopes
and Astrology, Pregnancy and Baby, Relationships, and Work
and Career. Still missing are News and Politics -- but they
will be added next month, say the site's management.
Not surprisingly, Tesco will be the exclusive grocer at
iVillage.co.uk -- and it is clear that the supermarket hopes
to increase its business as a result. It is committed to
investing over US $17 million in cash, staff time and
and promotions over a three-year period in what is
described as a 50/50 joint venture.
John Browett, chief executive of Tesco.com, said the
partnership allows the two companies to combine their
respective strengths of retailing and community building.
The result, he claimed, was a site that will save women time
and make their lives easier.
iVillage UK has put together an editorial team consisting
of 16 journalists and producers coming from the BBC, national
magazines and newspapers and online media.
In the U.K., Boots the Chemist is the other big High Street
name competing for the female audience with its well-established
handbag.com site. Handbag.com serves as a showcase for Boots
products and expertise in such subjects as health and beauty --
neither of which are mentioned in the main index to the current
iVillage.co.uk content.
Whether women in the U.K. wish to be part of an online ghetto
-- or gather information directly from specialist sites --
remains to be seen. Sheer marketing muscle from Tesco (721
stores in the U.K. and Ireland with a turnover US $29 billion)
is likely to ensure their attention.
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Tesco, iVillage Launch iVillage.co.uk