It is very unusual in the Internet world – and actually in any economic sector. Until today, Buscapé is Brazil’s leading online product search service. The company has practically never been “threatened”, and has never found any obstacles to its hegemonic leadership in the sector. When a competitor came up, like Bond Faro, it just bought it. Hence, Buscapé currently holds 90% of the market in Brazil. This trend starts to shift next Saturday June 16 at midnight, when Zura website goes live, as a new comparison shopping service. Created under the tutelage of Ideiasnet, Brazil’s largest IT investment holding company, the portal results from the merger of two other specific websites, iVox, an online opinion and product inquiry guide, and Emconta, the search engine created to compete with Buscapé. By the end of 2007, the company expects to reach two million online visitors per month, one thousand registered stores, and R$ 80 million in product sales. In one year, sales will total R$ 5 million. Buscapé’s revenues reached R$ 40 million. "We do not plan to be another search engine in the market. We want to become a reference to consumers not only relative to price, but also to product quality", says Rodin Spielmann, CFO of Ideiasnet.

According to Spielmann, the best way to compete against Buscapé is to promote synergies with the other 19 companies under Ideiasnet’s tutelage. Its portfolio includes MP3 iMusica shopping website, Netmovies movie rental website and TVaovivo.com.br. With Emconta and iVox, Zura starts with 700 thousand internet users registered in its database. And there is more. "Before the end of the year, we will integrate the webtv concept, to benefit from the medias convergence", stated Emconta’s Director Marcelo Peregrino to DINHEIRO magazine. "We may, for example, present product videos, in addition to images."

Experts believe that by launching this type of innovation, a company may set a new direction for the online search market. "Buscapé is the foundation of this sector’s consolidation. The key for new companies currently attempting to enter the market is to present new functions and aggregate value ", says Gerson Rolim, executive director of the Brazilian Chamber of E-Commerce. Rolim underlines that the difference from Zura may be "the financial investment made by the companies involved in the business”. Ideiasnet seems to have what it takes to achieve this. Together, the companies that make up its portfolio reached R$ 406 million revenues in 2006. In addition, the company’s track record includes an impressive story of rebound. The group was the first internet company to have its shares traded at the exchange. After the so-called "internet bubble" in 2000, the company nearly went bankrupt. In its debut, the company’s shares traded at R$ 11, and one year later they fell to only R$ 0.25. To recover, Ideiasnet cut costs and reduced the investment portfolio. The company’s shares currently trade at R$ 4.6, and its market cap is approximately R$ 370 million. "We are more mature now than we were seven years ago. We now have an improved investment focus and better analysis of our competitors’ moves", Spielmann adds. When compared to Buscapé, however, one may note that Zura still has a long way to go. Launched in 1999, the website has 40 thousand registered stores and 15 thousand single users per month. "This won’t be our first competitor", says Romero Rodrigues, CEO of Buscapé. He sounds like someone who is used to eliminate competitors. On Ideiasnet’s side, it is an attempt to change this fate.