wit ake sale next uci Beit! eon thi Ine: nd bene MUL apse 0a vi auci "Ace pach) nets ef. Sd “inho tion ieHe a a aL s 2K vind witLal sale nt “a rey sae eH <.“A on Tes, 7Awi il a oh pn ion Tracy a Saale a 0 eta al nene teeson ee weer ae 3ss Increasing The Convenience Of Your Home (NAPSA)—A growing number of Americans have found there’s no place like home for working, running errands and shopping, as well as entertainment. New technologies and Internet services have made it easier for people to stay home and still be productive. The numberof people who telecommute to work has risen steadily since 1980. In-home conveniences such as pay-per-view and delivery services have become commonplace in many American houses, and the numberof households that shop online is estimated to be more than 46 million. Analysts refer to the stay-athome trend as “cocooning”—a phraseoriginally coined in 1981 by trend-forecaster Faith Popcorn to describe American spending habits andbehavior. Popcorn says the availability of technologies such as Internet shopping and home entertainment products play a “very big part” in cocooning. Tech-savvy cocooners are staying home and watching andplaying with their electronic equipment or using the Internet to buy more. Sites such as 800.com, which sells more than 300,000 Shopping at home is just one of the ways people are cocooning. electronic products, movies and music in more than 100 categories, help to make that possible. Users can visit the site and shop around or “chat” with product specialists or fellow shoppers. The site provides in-depth support before, during and after purchases are made, offering decisionmaking tools such as side-by-side product comparisons, interactive wizards and accessory matchers. For many items, the site’s trained specialists even make follow-up contact with cocooning consumers to offer extra assistance. For more information, visit 800.com or call 800-ELECTRONICS.
