Restaurantpro.com Teams with Bank of America, Commerce One, OpenTable.com, Others on Foodservice B2B Marketplace
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 24, 2000-- Restaurantpro.com(TM) today announced alliances with leaders in the financial services, technology and foodservice industries to create a foodservice business-to-business (B2B) marketplace that is free for targeted, full-service independent restaurants. The company's roster of strategic partners includes Bank of America, Commerce One, Inc., OpenTable.com, chefstore.com, LMKI, Inc. and Cambridge Technology Partners.
Restaurantpro.com connects restaurants and suppliers in a secure extranet online marketplace that allows them to work together more efficiently and enhance existing relationships.
"The fundamental philosophy behind the Restaurantpro.com B2B business model is that we must aggregate full-service independent restaurants in order to create real value for foodservice distributors and suppliers. To do this, we have made our program totally free to the restaurant," said Christopher R. Hemmeter, president and CEO, Restaurantpro.com. "Our business model is strengthened through partnerships with established e-commerce, merchant services, and foodservice leaders."
Bank of America/BA Merchant Services, Inc.
Restaurantpro.com provides a PC, high-speed Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) Internet access and its e-procurement services free of charge to targeted restaurants that use credit card processing services from BA Merchant Services, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America. BA Merchant Services, Inc. is one of the largest processors of merchant credit and debit card transactions in the country. The credit card transactions are processed via DSL Internet connections using proprietary, patent-pending technology developed by Restaurantpro.com. These Internet transactions will utilize existing Point of Sale (POS) hardware.
As the principal merchant processing supplier on the Restaurantpro.com marketplace, BA Merchant Services, Inc. pays a transaction fee to Restaurantpro.com for each credit card purchase. It is expected that as a result of the Restaurantpro.com platform, significant volume will be brought to BA Merchant Services, Inc. More than 80 percent of customer transactions in full-service independent restaurants are processed via credit card.
The partnership also involves a cross-sales effort leveraging Restaurantpro.com's regional sales force and BA Merchant Services, Inc.'s 350 sales representatives nationwide.
Commerce One, Cambridge Technology Partners
Restaurantpro.com also plans to work with Commerce One (NASDAQ:CMRC), the leader in global e-commerce solutions for business, to connect buyers and suppliers over the Internet. Commerce One's technology can streamline and stabilize the process of managing supplier catalog and pricing information and restaurant buying preferences in a Web-ready format. These technologies and accompanying professional services will further facilitate systems integration and customer pricing management efforts for Restaurantpro.com's distributor and supplier partners. Commerce One is an investor in Restaurantpro.com.
Commerce One currently provides technology and services to regional and industry B2B marketplaces in the energy, automotive and aerospace industries, among many others worldwide.
Cambridge Technology Partners (NASDAQ:CATP), a leading global e-integration services provider, will oversee the implementation of the Commerce One technology with suppliers using the Restaurantpro.com service.
OpenTable.com
To increase the value proposition to its restaurant customers, Restaurantpro.com is working with OpenTable.com, the nation's leading provider of online reservations and customer yield management tools to restaurants. Both companies provide value-added services using DSL Internet connectivity -- OpenTable.com in the front of the restaurant, and Restaurantpro.com in the back office. This partnership is expected to generate significant sales, marketing and system deployment efficiencies for both companies and incorporates several innovative product and service features that benefit restaurants.
Broadband Internet Partner
Restaurantpro.com has partnered with LMKI, Inc. (OTCBB:LMKI) to provide its customers with DSL Internet access where available. LMKI, a leading provider of broadband communications solutions, is furnishing the secure Real Private Network (RPN) that Restaurantpro.com will use to provide DSL connectivity to its customers. Using the RPN means that Restaurantpro.com customer information will not travel over the public Internet, making the service more secure.
Value-Added Services
Restaurantpro.com will offer a number of e-commerce services in its public-access marketplace. Featured first will be chefstore.com, an online source for professional kitchen equipment, supplies, tabletop items, specialty foods and chef's products. Restaurantpro.com will continue to add features to the marketplace, including staffing and training resources, valuable community content, and an e-auction service.
About Restaurantpro.com
Restaurantpro.com is a privately held service company leveraging the Internet to help restaurants and suppliers do business together online more efficiently and effectively. The company will build and manage the dominant B2B marketplace for the $376 billion foodservice industry. Restaurantpro.com's board of directors includes Jed Smith, founder of Drugstore.com, John V. Balen, from Canaan Partners, Peter Roshko from Boulder Ventures and Christopher R. Hemmeter. The Restaurantpro.com web site is located at www.restaurantpro.com.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements made in this press release by Commerce One are not historical facts but are "forward looking statements" and may involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual future results to differ materially and adversely from those anticipated by such statements. Included among the factors that could affect Commerce One's performance are: product demand and market acceptance; general economic conditions; fluctuations in operating results; its ability to effectively manage future growth, to retain and efficiently integrate its executive management team, and to identify, hire, train and retain, in a highly competitive market, individuals highly skilled in the Internet and its rapidly changing technology; significant revenue concentration in a limited number of clients etc. For a discussion of these and other risk factors that could affect Commerce One's business, see "Risk Factors" in Commerce One's filings with the Securities and Marketplace Commission, including its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 1999.
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