InformationWeek

Barnesandnoble.com to customers: Book'em

Everyone's an E-biz entrepreneur these days, at least at barnesandnoble.com.

The online bookseller is hoping to turn its customers into digital salespeople. The company yesterday unveiled a new marketing strategy, called "We-Commerce," that encourages barnesandnoble.com customers to become booksellers. After registering on a special site called MybnLink, would-be booksellers will then receive hyperlinks to various locations on the barnesandnoble.com site--and can pass the links via E-mail to friends.

Should the friend access the link and make a purchase, the sender will receive a 5% commission that can be used as cash credit for personal barnesandnoble.com accounts or donated to one of 5 designated charities, including a literacy foundation.

Customers-turned-sellers can keep track of their friends' spending by accessing a password-protected site, which is updated daily with sales and earnings figures.

--Eileen Colkin