WSJ.com EXPANDS STAPLES PROMOTION

By: Joe Nicholson Hundreds Of Subscriptions Sold In Pilot

After a successful pilot project, The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition is being sold in over 800 outlets of Staples, the office supply store.

Customers can buy a $4.95 introductory subscription for 60 days or a $49 annual subscription, which includes an added month for free. Staples shoppers can buy what looks like an old-fashioned handkerchief box; inside the dark blue box are instructions with a user name and password to activate a subscription to WSJ.com.

Tom Baker, vice president and general manager of the Interactive Journal, calls the promotion 'a tangible box to buy a virtual subscription.'

Dow Jones & Co., owner of the Web site, and the $7 billion Staples Inc. said their agreement followed successful completion of a two-month pilot program during which hundreds of Interactive Journal subscriptions were sold at 200 Staples stores in 16 states.

'Using this retail sales channel is a strategic way to extend the Journal's online offering to potential new readers,' said Baker, who points to the office supply store's customer base of professionals, consultants, and small-business owners.

Dana Perry, Staples' senior product manager, called the response to the point-of-purchase pilot program 'tremendous' and added, 'We expect this to be a perfect item for holiday shoppers this season and year-round for our business customers who are turning to the Internet for the news they need to help run their businesses.'

The Interactive Edition was launched in April 1996, and has a paid circulation of more than 330,000 subscribers. It is one of the few news sites that requires paid subscriptions.

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Joe Nicholson (joen@mediainfo.com) is associate editor for Editor & Publisher magazine.



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