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CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview With Shawn Gold
Aired November 03, 2001 - 10:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The anthrax scare is changing how we look at the mail, at the delivery of packages, and Web site operators report higher activity. More people are paying their bills and mail and making purchases online.
Let's talk about this with Shawn Gold, president of eUniverse. He joins us now from Los Angles.
Hi Shawn.
SHAWN GOLD, PRESIDENT OF EUNIVERSE.COM: Hi Kyra, thanks for having me.
PHILLIPS: Oh, it's great to have you. Are you concerned at all when we're talking about e-business? What are your worries?
GOLD: Well, I'm concerned, obviously, about the country. But e- business seems to be getting quite a boost in these times of -- not only because of the economy, but also because of the events since September 11.
PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about that boost. Direct marketing? I'm assuming that's up.
GOLD: Yes. Direct marketing is up. Online commerce is going to be up this holiday season. You know, because of the economy people are going to be looking for better price, better selection when they make, probably, less (sic) purchases. So the Internet will benefit from that. That's one of the things that it does really well.
We're probably going to have people who are concerned about shopping in malls. We're going to have people who are traveling less, so they're not going to be able to deliver packages. And of the people that do actually travel, they're going to not really be able to bring packages on planes.
So I think what you're going to find is e-commerce offering a lot of convenience to people this holiday season.
PHILLIPS: And in light of this anthrax scare, are you already seeing more people paying their bills online, in addition to doing this shopping online?
GOLD: Oh, definitely. People -- you know, whether it's rational or not, people are just not as interested in opening mail and receiving mail these days. So, you know, one of our larger customers, LowerMyBills.com, which offers a service where you can search the best prices on credit card, insurance and things like that, has found a 100 percent increase in people opting-in to receive online billing, as opposed to paper billing.
PHILLIPS: Are more people getting online period? Folks that maybe said, Oh, I don't want anything to deal with the computer or getting online or getting a system -- are you all of a sudden seeing new memberships?
GOLD: We're seeing a significant increase in traffic to our own site, about 30 percent increase since September 11 to eUniverse.com.
The other thing is, you're seeing a lot of people communicating via electronic communications versus traditional communications. As an example, more and more companies that are -- more and more marketers are using e-mail in tandem with their direct marketing or mail marketing, sending e-mail messages that are alerting people that they have a promotional mailing that's about to arrive at their home.
And even this season, during the holiday, you know, commerce season, you're going to see a lot of companies and a lot of individuals using e-mail to say, Hey, I've sent you a package; it should be arriving, you know, on this date.
PHILLIPS: That's a smart idea. A heads up, yeah.
GOLD: Right.
PHILLIPS: What about dot-coms? Do you think there will be a rebound?
GOLD: There's definitely going to be a rebound. I mean, the dot-coms are not going anywhere. The efficiencies of the Internet, you know, are here to stay. There's certainly been a lot of dot-com backlash because of the economy and people who have lost money in the space but, you know, the use of the Internet and the technology and the convenience that it offers is, you know, inevitable.
PHILLIPS: Well Shawn, before we let you go, I want to get -- just ask you about eUniverse, your company specifically. Your business strategy -- how has your business strategy changed since all of this, and how are you getting new business?
GOLD: You know, our business strategy hasn't changed really all that much. I mean, what we -- you know, we offer -- on the business side, we offer, you know, a way to reach consumers efficiently with spending less money and get a quicker response. How it has changed is that more and more companies are now trying the Internet because they think that they may have problems with direct mail. And when they try it, they're really just seeing the inevitable benefits that it offers.
PHILLIPS: Shawn Gold, president of eUniverse. Thanks so much for getting up early this morning for us.
GOLD: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: All right.
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