Sock It To Me

Now you can name your own price for pantyhose. (www.priceline.com) Priceline's WebHouse Club says that this week it is adding 10 new product categories, including pantyhose, to its "name your own price" for groceries service on the Internet. WebHouse Club says it has received thousands of suggestions for products to add to the more than 150 categories and 600 national brands already available, adding that pantyhose are the number one new product requested by members.

     The other new categories are fresh and frozen seafood, hot cereals, mayonnaise, olive oil, flour, frozen fruit juices, frozen breakfast sausages, cold and flu remedies and lipstick, says the Stamford, Conn.-based e-commerce firm. Now more than 160 product categories representing in excess of 600 national brand choices are available to WebHouse Club members.

     The WebHouse Club is distinct from all other online grocery services, says Priceline, because it partners with major local retail chains. The WebHouse Club allows consumer to get significant discount savings available only on the Internet and the convenience of shopping at their favorite local grocery stores for those savings. Since its launch on November 1 in the New York metro area, the WebHouse Club has enrolled more than 50,000 members, the company says.

     Unlike coupon savings, which average $3 to $4 per shopping trip, WebHouse Club members currently save an average of 12.75 per trip on an average purchase of $32.00, the company adds. Products priced most often by WebHouse Club members are diapers, orange juice, beef, milk and chicken.

     Retail chains that are supporting the WebHouse Club include A&P, Key Food, ShopRite, Grand Union, Waldbaums, FoodTown, King Kullen, Stop & Shop, the Food Emporium, Gristede's, D'Agostino, Super Food Mart and Pathmark.

     "Women have told us the products they would like to name their own price for and pantyhose was far and away the number one request," says Jonathan Otto, chairman and CEO of WebHouse Club. "We envision a run on pantyhose."