As a channel that is characterized by convenience, wide product selection, and easy comparison shopping, the Web has enjoyed tremendous growth in consumer spending in recent years. Despite the ongoing market shakeout and yet-to-come profits on the retailer side, Forrester Research, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based marketing research firm, predicts that US consumer online spending will be on the rise to $74 billion in 2001, a 64% increase from the $45 billion of 2000. 5 Paralleling the proliferation of online consumer spending is the emergence of many innovative business models, including dynamic pricing mechanisms. According to San Francisco-based Vernon Keenan, a consultant and publisher of an industry newsletter called The Keenan Vision (available at www. keenanvision. com), in 2004 some $561 billion worth of transactions will be conducted online via dynamic pricing mechanisms, accounting for approximately 40% of all online transactions. 6