The identity of one of the web's largest and most successful retailers may come as a surprise. It's JCPenney, Business Week reports, and it attracted 926,000 paying customers to its website in the first quarter—a number that ranks the 105-year-old company with web giants like eBay, Amazon, and Ticketmaster.
One of the first online retailers to offer in-store pickup, Penney integrates its website and stores. It offers nearly three times as many products online as it does in its 1,000 retail locations and allows customers to check in-store stock online. And to think, when the website launched in 1994, it sold just one product: Power Rangers. (More online retailers stories.)