Changing The Way We Buy Toilet Paper Forever?

Picture this: today could be last day you ever have to stop at the store for toilet paper on your way home from work. That's because the ecommerce website Alice.com has launched in open beta -- the latest direct sales site with the potential to make online entrepreneurs kick themselves and wonder why they didn't do it first. Think of it like Amazon, only for pesky household essentials.

While the notion of buying everything online, especially mundane consumer goods, still carries a faint whiff of pre-bubble burst 1999, there's reason to believe that this time could be different. For one thing, Alice.com delivers with no shipping costs, right to your door (provided you buy at least six items). Another big plus: they already have a staggering variety of products available (over 6,000) ranging from shampoo and soap to coffee and laundry detergent to pet food, even condoms -- and the prices are about the same as you'd find at the local big-box retailer. And here's where the name comes in (for all you youngsters, Alice refers to the sassy live-in housekeeper on The Brady Bunch): once you sign up and create a household profile, the site will keep track of your purchases and send email reminders when you're running low.

Which brings up the big hooks for the packaged goods manufacturers: that household profile you create could be very valuable when the company that makes your detergent is marketing a new product. They also have the advantage of saving money by selling directly to consumers and avoiding the markup of retailers stores like Wal-Mart -- many of whom have been gaining ground with their own store brands of the same products.

The only question left is how the site will actually make money, a question that doesn't seem as cut-and-dry. Founders Brian Wiegand and Mark McGuire (who sold startup Jellyfish.com to Microsoft in 2007) say they've already got commitments from five of the top ten consumer product companies, and plan to float the site by selling advertising, electronic coupon services, and, presumably, all that spending data.

Sounds like a pretty good plan. Ultimately, though, Alice.com's success will depend on changing the way we shop for toilet paper, which is no small feat. It's not the kind of thing people can wait for UPS to deliver if they run out. Then again, ten years ago nobody thought Netflix could change the way we rent movies. But when was the last time you went to the neighborhood Blockbuster?