Once a fast-growing e-retailer that was expected to compete head-to-head with eBay, uBid Inc.'s uBid.com has been slated for divestiture by CMGI Inc., the e-commerce venture capital firm that owns a majority stake in the online retailer, CMGI said this week.
CMGI, itself once a high-flying investor in Internet properties, reported a net loss of $186.7 million for the second quarter ended Jan. 31, double the net loss of $93.6 million in the prior quarter. The Q2 net loss is 25% wider than the year-ago loss of $148.4 million. CMGI attributes 89% of its Q2 net loss, or $166.9 million, to discontinued operations, which in addition to uBid include search engine AltaVista, which it sold to Overture Services Inc., e-mail marketing firm Yesmail Inc., which it also sold, and technology consulting firm Tallan Inc., also sold.
UBid CEO Christian Feuer declines to comment on CMGI's plans for uBid but notes that uBid has attempted several changes in the past year, including discontinuing its consumer-to-consumer auctions, a move intended to cede that market to eBay.
In an interview late last year, Feuer said uBid was trying to present a more focused shopping experience for customers, who indicated in a survey that they were confused by uBid's mixture of products and purchasing alternatives.
Feuer, a former Spiegel.com marketing executive who took over as chief executive of uBid in the middle of last year, tried to revise uBid with a stronger focus on consumer electronics, launching a fixed-price Electronics SuperStore last November. But it has continued to struggle against major competitors like eBay, which also launched a consumer electronics superstore last fall.
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