Cyberian Outpost was an online vendor of discount computer hardware and software that operated the website outpost.com. After its IPO in 1998, it reached a peak market capitalization of $1 billion, but, after the bursting of the

dot-com bubble The dot-com bubble (dot-com boom, tech bubble, or the Internet bubble) was a stock market bubble in the late 1990s, a period of massive growth in the use and adoption of the Internet. Between 1995 and its peak in March 2000, the Nasdaq Compo ...

, its stock price fell rapidly and the company was acquired by

Fry's Electronics Fry's Electronics was an American big-box store chain. While operating, it was headquartered in San Jose, California in Silicon Valley. Fry's retailed software, consumer electronics, household appliances, cosmetics, tools, toys, accessories, ma ...

in 2001 for $21 million. The company received publicity for its controversial advertisements including one in which gerbils were shot out of a cannon, one where wolves attack a high school marching band, and one where children in daycare are being tattooed with "outpost.com" on their foreheads.

History

Cyberian Outpost was founded in 1995 by Darryl Peck. Cyberian Outpost was one of the earliest successful online-only retailers. Unlike many large retailers of the time, the company marketed directly to expert consumers instead of businesses and specialized in hard-to-find Macintosh products in a market saturated with Microsoft-compatible products. Outpost.com marketed its products around the world and offered its website in 11 languages and sold to customers in 140 countries. The company expanded rapidly, taking advantage of the booming Internet. Revenue increased from $1.9 million in the year ended February 29, 1996 to $22.7 million in the year ended February 28, 1998. In 1997, ''

Money Magazine ''Money'' is an American personal finance brand and website owned by Ad Practitioners LLC and formerly also a monthly magazine, first published by Time Inc. (1972–2018) and later by Meredith Corporation (2018–2019). Its articles cover the ...

'' rated the site as "Best Site for Computer Equipment". Outpost.com raised $2.7 million in venture capital in 1997, at which point the site had 25,000 visitors per day and 1.3 million customers. The company secured another $22 million in financing in 1998, and raised another $70 million from its

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...

. Outpost.com opened a warehouse in Ohio that could guarantee next-morning domestic delivery and worldwide delivery within 48 hours. Outpost provided next-day shipping on all orders, regardless of size, up until 2001. After the

burst, the company fell on hard times. In 2001, the company entered into a merger agreement with

PC Connection PC Connection, doing business as Connection, is headquartered in Merrimack, New Hampshire. It has more than 2,500 employees and sells more than 300,000 products. The Connection brand includes Connection Business Solutions, Connection MoreDirect ...

but then terminated that merger agreement and the company was sold to

for $21 million including the repayment of $13 million in debt from PC Connection. At that time, the company had 1.4 million customers and 4 million visitors per month to its website.

Marketing

Outpost.com forged marketing partnerships with major Internet portals, such as AOL, CNet, and

Lycos Lycos, Inc., is a web search engine and web portal established in 1994, spun out of Carnegie Mellon University. Lycos also encompasses a network of email, web hosting, social networking, and entertainment websites. The company is based in Walth ...

in which Outpost.com was featured on these websites. Outpost.com hired Cliff Freeman to produce TV ads. His agency had created the "Pizza Pizza" campaign for

Little Caesars Little Caesar Enterprises Inc. (doing business as Little Caesars) is an American multi-national pizza chain. Based on 2020 statistics, Little Caesars is the third-largest pizza chain by total sales in the United States, behind Pizza Hut and ...

and the "Where's the Beef?" campaigns for Wendy's International. Outpost.com adopted a zealous and controversial marketing program which included a Super Bowl ad in which fake gerbils were shot out of a cannon at the company logo, followed later by an ad that featured a high school marching band being attacked by a pack of ravenous wolves, and another ad portraying pre-school toddlers being tattooed with 'Outpost.com' across their foreheads.

References

External links

* Outpost.com TV Ad
Gerbils shot out of a cannon
* Outpost.com TV Ad
Wolves attack a high school marching band
* Outpost.com TV Ad
Children in Daycare being tattooed with "outpost.com" on their foreheads
{{Dot-com Bubble 1998 initial public offerings Online retailers of the United States American companies established in 1995 Retail companies established in 1995 Internet properties established in 1995 Companies based in Litchfield County, Connecticut Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq Dot-com bubble