"Every category is being inundated," said Anthony Noto, an electronic commerce analyst with Goldman, Sachs.

Nicole Vanderbilt, an electronic- commerce analyst at Jupiter Communications, estimated that $66 million of health and beauty products would be sold on line this year.

"Outside of weddings, it's going to be difficult to make it fly for adults," said Ken Cassar, a digital commerce analyst at Jupiter Communications.

"The sites can't duplicate the department-store experience," said Mike May, a digital commerce analyst with Jupiter Communications.

"What makes these Internet programs significant is that they are specific to the medium," said Scott Smith, a digital commerce analyst at Jupiter Communications, a research firm.

"Businesses require physical documents that arrive on time," said Melissa Shore, digital commerce analyst at Jupiter Communications.

"Up until a few months ago, people had virtually no choices," said Michael May, a digital commerce analyst at Jupiter Communications, a new-media research company.

"This puts a lot of pressure on other full-service firms to respond in kind," said Bill Burnham, an electronic commerce analyst at Credit Suisse.

"This is an important first step," Ken Cassar, digital commerce analyst for the Internet research firm Jupiter Communications, said.

"Onsale is the perfect shopping experience for men," said Vernon Keenan, an electronic commerce analyst with Zona Research.