Web entrepreneurs and brothers Ralph and Brenton Richardson are launching a new website today in the hopes of bringing comfortable, convenient and better local shopping opportunities to Bermuda's consumers.

The site — called Shopaholic (www.shopaholic.bm) — is intended as a virtual shopping mall of sorts. As of today's launch it will showcase items from 20-plus local merchants and, by browsing around the site, shoppers will be able to comparison shop, see special offers and new products and, in some cases, even buy their items online complete with delivery.

Shopaholic is a subscription-based business which the two brothers pounded both the pavement and the web pathways to bring to Bermuda's retailers. Elder brother Ralph's role is product development and customer service while Brenton will focus on sales and promotion.

Launching today with 160 products online, the pair feels the venture will grow very quickly with exposure to what they are offering. "We expect numbers (of merchants using the site) to double," said Ralph, 35. "We'd like to get 40 to 50 merchants on board. We brought it to everyone, going door to door, but some were not yet ready to move forward."

Merchants subscribe to Shopaholic by purchasing advertising squares and then will be able to update their content at will — as new products arrive or new specials are announced. Where the merchant has already got a website that is e-commerce enabled, that site will be linked to Shopaholic and customers will be carried there to make their purchase instantaneously. In other cases, customers can simply call the shop about the item they desire.

For the wary shopper or simply the time-challenged, Shopaholic offers hassle-free browsing for the items they need, completely free of charge. "Maybe you can't get into town," said Mr. Richardson. "Now you can still find out who has what you need."

The service will save time, parking hassles and even, in some cases, money as consumers can see when their desired purchase goes on special.

The software to run the site was entirely developed by California-based Ralph's company Maven 2.0. Participating merchants will be able to simply login and manage their offerings online daily, if so desired, or when new products arrive. Mr. Richardson, who also runs a second company called Maven Concepts which focuses on marketing and website development, said Maven 2.0 will be constantly working on improving that software to make it better and better for merchants.

While he's based in California, he said most of his clients are actually in Bermuda and among the websites Maven has developed is the new AS Cooper site (www.ascooper.bm). And, of course, Maven has also worked extensively on his brother Brenton's brainchild — BermyNET.

Brenton, now 29, founded BermyNET nine years ago. He freely admits he was taken aback by its near instant popularity. He started the site as a hobby — to keep track of the social comings and goings on the Island — and it grew to an all-consuming venture.

Now that site — which is set for a relaunch in the very near future — will be integrated with Shopaholic, offering another portal to shoppers for merchants on one of the most heavily trafficked sites in Bermuda. New products will pop up on BermyNET and browsers can follow them to Shopaholic to learn more.

The venture is a family business made for this millennium — Shopaholic was developed for BermyNET.com by Maven 2.0 and is marketed by Maven Concepts.

The ambitious brothers said they were not even deterred by recent economic troubles when moving ahead with the new site — which actually grew from a germ of an idea Ralph had eight years ago.

Only now, was the time really right — both for the Richardson team and for the merchants — to move forward, Ralph said.

In fact, he said that the challenging economic times make the site's offerings more vital and attractive than ever. "I think we've had more interest because of (the economic woes)," he said of the response from merchants to Shopaholic. "It's simple, it's not too expensive and it's a great advertising alternative for small boutiques that maybe had not been doing any advertising."

Mr. Richardson said advertising becomes more important in challenging economic times as there is more competition to attract a smaller pool of customers. "You have to do everything you can to attract more business, the products are already on the Island, they have to let people know about them."