IMNI is a sleeper. I called IR the other day and was impressed with the fellow I spoke to.
IMNI is a marketing company which is currently focusing much of its energies on its Autosmart subsidiary, which sells vehicles over the Internet. As stated in the PR, Autosmart did over 400K worth of business in its first week online. They estimate they will begin by selling an average of 3 vehicles/day and further estimate about 30M in first year sales from this aspect of their business alone. In addition to profits for auto sales, they also receive a piece of the the financing, leasing,warantee arrangements, etc.
Selling vehicles over the Internet enables the company to avoid normal sales overhead costs, allowing buyers to purchase for as little as 2% over factory invoice (dealer's price, not the manufactuer's suggested retail price which one sees posted on the vehicle).
In the example I was given, a dealer ordinarily sells a Lexus RX300 for between 38K to 40K. Autosmart sells this vehicle for 36.5K representing an average savings to the consumer of about 10%. Furthermore, Autosmart has arrangements with a number of leading banks and vehicle suppliers, which facilitate procurement of merchandise, along with leasing and financing arrangements.
The company plans to initiate the process of becoming fully reporting in the near future and currently has independent accountants working on an audit.
The PR/IR people realize the importance of releasing news in a timely fashion and expect to have PRs as often as there is news, at least on a biweekly basis. The company is eyeing several acquisitions.
Furthermore, they have only 5M shares OS and a tiny float of 1.5M, so any serious buying will move this stock higher quickly.
Here is their latest release, which among other things, announces their plans to initiate an online auction center:
Friday March 5, 6:40 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Shop-the-Net.com Becomes Springboard for AutoSmart USA, Inc.
"Interactive Convergence" Rev's-Up New Car Sales
JERSEY CITY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 5, 1999--Shop-the-Net.com the E-Commerce online shopping division of Interactive Multimedia Network Inc., (OTC BB: IMNI - news) has become a major ''Internet Portal'' for successfully catapulting AutoSmart USA, Inc., www.autosmartusa.com to the front of the line for the purchasing or leasing of a new car or truck for as low as 2% over factory invoice.
As a full-service Internet web site devoted to the retail sale of cars, light trucks, SUV's and vehicle accessories, www.autosmartusa.com allows a consumer to directly purchase a new vehicle without any of the haggling or hassle historically associated with the car-buying process. Consumers can go to autosmartusa.com and with the click of their mouse, begin the process of securing the lowest possible price for a new car or truck with the specific options requested and then proceed to finalize the sale including financing and leasing within minutes.
Shop-the-Net.com ( www.shop-the-net.com ) has established itself as a popular family shopping destination on the Internet. For the past five years it has offered high quality products with value to the Internet Consumer. www.Shop-the-Net.com provides the opportunity to purchase a wide variety of products and services including gift items, custom designed jewelry from Italy, baby products, music, books, etc. Now, Shop-the-Net.com will aggressively promote its new family member AutoSmart USA, Inc.
To increase traffic to the site www.Shop-the-Net.com, IMNI utilizes television exposure, print campaigns in major markets, banner advertising and search engine registrations. IMNI will ''cross market'' the Shop-the-Net.com and AutoSmartUSA.com web sites through a highly visible banner advertising campaign aimed at increasing Shop-the-Net.com's and AutoSmartusa.com's potential sales volume.
Within the next three months, IMNI intends to provide ''Online Auction Opportunities'' within Shop-the-Net.com to the entrepreneurial small business following the dynamic business model made successful by EBAY.com (NASDAQ: EBAY - news), in an effort to increase traffic to its web site.
IMNI's marketing strategy is built around ''Interactive Convergence'', it's innovative e-marketing business model for the sale and marketing of products and services. IMNI will drive television viewers to AutoSmart USA.com utilizing television exposure on IMNI's interactive home shopping variety shows which are cross-linked to Shop-the-Net.com and AutoSmart USA.com's Internet new car showroom.
Television and Internet to Retail will be the ''Drum Beat'' for Shop-the-Net.com as it promotes it's new family member, AutoSmart USA.com.
Contact:
Interactive Multimedia Network, Inc., Jersey City
William J. Auletta, 1.800.373.8667
e-mail: imnet@shop-the-net.com |
