Getting to Know You

Not everyone gets a customized diet. The company advises dieters tocheck with their doctor before beginning any diet or fitness program,and they won't give you a diet if you're within a recommended weightrange. Instead, the service may tell you that you're within yourtarget weight and that trying to lose additional weight isunhealthy.

For eDiets' business to survive, it has to make sure members return tothe site on a weekly basis and renew their subscriptions after threemonths. To encourage them to do that and ensure they feel supported intheir weight loss efforts, eDiets uses the same proprietary technologythe company has developed for generating the personalized diets. Forinstance, if the system finds that a member hasn't logged in forseveral weeks, it will automatically send that individual an e-mailencouraging him to stay on track, says Johnson.

The one drawback to the plan is that many members find the onlineprogram isolating. "With an online weigh-in, there just doesn't seemto be the motivation to stay on program the way there is with aface-to-face program like Weight Watchers," says a former eDietssubscriber.

EDiets tries to combat that handicap with chat rooms and bulletinboards on its website, as well as a toll free number dieters can callfor help or a kick in the pants. If a member calls to say she's havingtrouble staying on the diet because she's hungry all the time, eDiets'staff can access the member's information through a Web-basedapplication that is linked to the diet engine and the customerdatabase. They can see the meal plan the customer is currently usingand adjust her caloric intake.

The personalized approach seems to be paying off. EDiets celebratedits first profit one year after it launched online in November 1999and has been in the black ever since. The company earned approximately$11.4 million in revenues in 2000 and an estimated $25 million in2001, 90 percent of which were generated through paidsubscriptions.