Sears.com Embraces Virtual Showroom

Hoffman Estates, Ill. Sears.com has expanded its online shopping experience with a virtual showroom of art, books, movies, software and music.

The addition nearly quadruples the number of products available on the site. The first step toward creating this expanded online inventory came in December 2007 when Sears.com partnered with Alliance Entertainment Corp. (AEC) to offer movies and music to its online shoppers. Sears.com now houses more than 250,000 titles searchable by format, genre, artist and release date. Visitors also can sample previews of the hottest music and movie titles.

In April, Sears.com expanded its For the Home Online Store by partnering with ArtSelect.com. Sears' customers now have access to a complete art gallery and custom-frame shop. After finding an art piece, visitors can create a custom-finished product by choosing the mat and frame. The design can be viewed against a wall color, saved in a gallery, or shared with friends.

Also in April, Sears.com partnered with Baker & Taylor to offer an online book assortment consisting of more than 600,000 products. Customers can search by title and category, as well as order books in advance of its release date.

The downloadable software store launched in February as a co-branded site hosted by Digital River. Customers can purchase and immediately download to their PC or laptop software programs ranging from finance, games, to security and system utilities.