Many consumers, in the market for big-ticket electronic items, shop Best Buy stores and then use the information and advice received to make informed on-line purchases at lower prices from retailers with less overhead than Best Buy.

FORBES: Best Buy In Turmoil: Will It Survive?

Frictionless.com, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, offers the electronic equivalent of a well-informed shop assistant.

ECONOMIST: A survey of e-commerce

Soon after, Inhale's rival Aradigm set up shop across the San Francisco Bay in Hayward, focusing on electronic delivery of inhaled drugs.

FORBES: Waiting to Inhale

Customers who shop at those merchants with an AmEx card will receive credits and electronic notification that they have redeemed the offer.

WSJ: AmEx Teams Up With Foursquare

OpenTable ventured across the Atlantic with its Electronic Reservation Book product offering for restaurants in the U.K. in 2004, and followed up by setting shop in Japan and Germany in 2006 and 2007 respectively.

FORBES: OpenTable Would Be Worth $70 If You Ignored Its International Business