The BBC's commercial website, Beeb.com has reaffirmed its commitment to shopping following a six-month review of its strategic focus.

Julian Turner, chief executive officer of Beeb Ventures, said beeb.com would be sticking with shopping and that the strategy was starting to pay off.

"We're starting to see good results and remain focused on adding value to the whole experience of shopping," he said, refusing to give figures.

BBC Worldwide was widely criticised last year when it threw caution to the wind and decided to rebrand as a shopping portal, setting up a clear boundary between its public service and commercial internet services.

Beeb.com's main selling point became internet shopping for those that are computer illiterate, a campaign it spent £7m on last year.

The shopping portal will now develop a price comparison service that will enable users to search and compare product prices.

It was originally thought Beeb.com would buy up ShopSmart.com's comparison technology, but reports earlier today suggest ShopSmart.com will be bought by Barclays to merge into Indigosquare.

However, Mr Turner said he didn't rule out acquisitions of clever pieces of technologies from struggling dot.coms that could enhance Beeb.com's website.

The next step for Beeb.com is to develop more interactive TV applications and launch the shopping guides and comparison service on mobile devices.

Meanwhile, Beeb Ventures's other business, the subscription-free ISP beeb.net, claims to have entered profitability and is boasting a membership base of 140,000.

Beeb Ventures is majority owned by BBC Worldwide, although last year US firm TH Lee Global took a 13.5% stake in the business for £32.5m.