LookSmart, a provider of Web directories, signed an agreement yesterday with Spiegel Corp. to promote the retailer's products through its Subsite Listings service.
Eddie Bauer, a division of Spiegel, signed a similar agreement with LookSmart earlier this week to use the same service.
Subsite Listings is a new marketing service created by LookSmart that generates qualified leads for businesses. It does this by providing paths to commerce areas within catalogers' Web sites from search results at major portals and Internet service providers, including Microsoft MSN, AltaVista and iWon.
The agreement will allow Eddie Bauer and Downers Grove, IL-based Spiegel to distribute content links throughout the LookSmart directory, said Kathryn Shantz, a spokeswoman for LookSmart, San Francisco.
The links allow Internet users direct access to Eddie Bauer products, which include men's and women's apparel, furniture and luggage on the cataloger's Web site. The program also will help drive sales for Spiegel.com electronic and fashion categories and will help promote its newer specialized offerings such as bake ware, furniture and jewelry.
Online shoppers searching for a Panasonic DVD player on MSN, or any other LookSmart partner site, will find listings for the same product available at Spiegel.com as part of the search results. When clicked, the link will take the shopper directly to the corresponding page within Spiegel.com.
“In our business, the ability to take users to commerce or category pages is essential to creating a better customer experience while increasing product visibility for Spiegel,” said Richard Burke, Spiegel.com's division vice president.
Other LookSmart clients include Amazon, eBay, Gap, Vertical Net, Banana Republic, Old Navy and CNET's mySimon.
