Dear David, I think the driving force is the Smart Option program, to get people used to using E-commerce to shop at participating local regional malls, which can offer
o immediate delivery
o customer support
o easy exchange policies
all of which differentiate the Smart Aim local E-commerce model from web e-tailing business models.
Contractually -- if Smart Aim through the Smart Option program can deliver 1 million customers (by accessing mall affiliate frequent shopper programs) in the next year, Cable and Wireless is committed to paying $60 million dollars, plus annuity, residual income.
People who sign on for the Smart Option program have electronic cash in their accounts deposited monthly if they pay their bill on time. They will spend the electronic cash over the Smart Aim E-commerce system at the local, participating regional mall.
The idea is that once people get used to using the Smart Aim E-commerce system at the local regional mall, then they will use the local E-commerce system more and more.
Smart Aim gets a 10% commission on all local E-commerce transactions, without any inventory risk, without any customer service risk, etc., all of which are handled off to the local retail merchant.
Smart Aim is an enabler for local E-commerce. Some people have compared Smart Aim to eBay because eBay is also an enabler (for on-line auctions).
Best,
Francis |
