Mercata and Go2Net Introduce New Shopping Category for the Go2Net Network
Go2Net Signs Mercata.com as Exclusive Group Buying Service
biz.yahoo.com
BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 10, 1999--Mercata, Inc., a new and revolutionary e-commerce company, and Go2Net, Inc. (Nasdaq:GNET - news), a network of branded, technology-and community-driven Web sites, today announced the creation of a new category in online shopping called ''Group Buying.''
Available via the Go2Net Network's Shopping Channel (http://www.go2net.com/channels/shopping/), Go2Net's ''Group Buying'' shopping link is the first site of its kind to feature Mercata's patent-pending ''We-Commerce(TM)'' (http://www.mercata.com) technology. At the site, consumers can collectively harness the power of the World Wide Web in Mercata's group buying environment, called a ''PowerBuy(TM),'' to secure great deals on a wide variety of premium name-brand products for home and play. The arrangement between the two companies also includes an advertising component in which Go2Net will prominently advertise Mercata throughout its network.
''This alliance represents a tremendous win-win-win for online consumers, Go2Net and Mercata,'' said Tom Van Horn, President and CEO of Mercata. ''The Group Buying shopping category provides an exciting new shopping experience for consumers, expands Go2Net's Shopping Channel and drives a substantial volume of targeted traffic to Mercata's PowerBuys.''
''We're pleased to introduce users of the Go2Net Network to the Mercata shopping experience, which leverages the power of the Internet to get large groups of buyers together in a way that simply can't be accomplished offline,'' said John Keister, Go2Net president. ''Go2Net and Mercata both have close working ties with Paul Allen and Vulcan Ventures, Inc., so this arrangement was a natural fit. We're looking forward to extending this relationship and exploring additional opportunities to work with Mercata and other companies with similar ties to Paul Allen and Vulcan Ventures.''
Mercata has pioneered a new way of buying on the Internet called the PowerBuy and with this partnership, introduces its innovative shopping experience to users of the Go2Net Network. A PowerBuy is a limited-time buying opportunity, during which the price paid for a product drops over a period of several hours to several days. As more consumers participate in a PowerBuy, they drive the product price down through their collective purchasing power, achieving tremendous discounts for themselves. At the end of a PowerBuy session, the final price can result in unparalleled savings for every customer who has participated.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
About Mercata
Mercata (http://www.mercata.com) is a next-generation interactive retailing company established to provide customers with a quick, simple and secure shopping experience unlike any other on the Web today. Mercata's dynamic buying process is made possible by We-Commerce(TM) technology. The patent pending model provides the means for consumers to join together in PowerBuys to get amazing deals on name-brand electronics, tools, kitchen products, sporting goods and gifts. Mercata aims to revolutionize retailing through new business models such as the PowerBuy and its patent-pending technology including We-Commerce. Mercata, Inc., founded in September 1998, is a privately held company with funding from Vulcan Ventures Inc.
About Go2Net, Inc.
Go2Net (http://www.go2net.com) is a network of branded, technology- and community-driven Web sites focused on the following categories: personal finance, search, commerce, and games. The company also develops Web-related software. The Go2Net Network's properties include: Silicon Investor (http://www.siliconinvestor.com), the Web's premier financial discussion site; StockSite (http://www.stocksite.com), which offers proprietary articles, portfolio tracking tools, company research and news relating to business and finance; MetaCrawler (http://www.metacrawler.com), a metasearch service that combines various existing search/index guides into one service; 100hot (http://www.100hot.com), the Internet's premier category-by-category ranking index of Web sites; HyperMart (http://www.hypermart.net), the Web's leading provider of free business hosting services; WebMarket (http://www.webmarket.com), a one-stop comparison shopping service; and PlaySite (http://www.playsite.com), a Java-based multi-player online games site. The company's Go2Net Labs division develops innovative technologies to enhance the features and functionality of the Go2Net sites and for licensing to other Internet companies.
Mercata, We-Commerce and PowerBuy are trademarks of Mercata, Inc.
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Contact:
Mercata--MWW/Savitt
Holly Kaiser, 206/587-7768
hkaiser@mww.com |
