It did this only after Amazon.com, by far the most successful on-line merchant, garnered more than 10 million customers.

Users can also make purchases from on-line merchants, pay parking fees and taxi fares.

Consumers were then able to use their beenz to purchase goods from on-line merchants.

Another warning sign, particularly for mall retailers, was the holiday success of on-line merchants.

At least one on-line merchant is leery of such creativity.

American on-line merchants are expanding into Europe, too.

Of that, the company took in $83 million from advertising and other deals with on-line merchants, an increase of 87 percent from a year earlier.

In toys, some prominent on-line merchants have already emerged.

The best example is in consumer electronics, where none of the small on-line merchants have anything close to a complete selection.

But some on-line merchants, while wary of the potential consequences, see some value in the Ticketmaster suit.