Conference Call Scheduled for Today
e4L to Expand and Own Everything4Less
biz.yahoo.com
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 29, 1999--e4L Inc. (NYSE:ETV - news) today announced that it will expand Everything4Less to offer a broad range of membership services, including discount shopping and a variety of other products and services.
e4L, which is currently adding 10,000 Everything4Less trial members each week, will drive the new Everything4Less through the leverage created by its direct response television and radio media. The new Everything4Less and all of its revenues will now be 100 percent owned by e4L. Previously, Everything4Less was a privately labeled shopping service.
For a monthly fee, members will receive a wide variety of services including discounts on brand-name merchandise (online and offline); discounts on entertainment (movies, theme parks, etc.); discounts on travel (hotels, car rental, airlines); up to 50 percent savings on contact lenses and glasses; savings on vitamins and prescription drugs; credit card registration; flowers; an automobile purchasing service; and more.
e4L will promote the new Everything4Less several ways:
-- "America's favorite TV moms" -- Shirley Jones ("The Partridge
Family"), Florence Henderson ("The Brady Bunch") and Marion Ross
("Happy Days") will promote Everything4Less in all e4L
infomercials (which air 2000 times per week throughout the United
States);
-- e4L infomercials will integrate Everything4Less membership into
the offer for the infomercial product (e.g., the customer
receives a discount on the product for joining Everything4Less);
-- e4L will offer Everything4Less to the millions of consumers who
call e4L each year to order or inquire about products;
-- e4L will produce an infomercial featuring "America's favorite TV
moms" entirely dedicated to the new Everything4Less;
-- The Everything4Less network radio show will integrate and promote
Everything4Less throughout the three-hour program; and
-- BuyItNow.com will directly market Everything4Less to
BuyItNow.com's customer base.
The primary vehicle for e4L's membership services division will be Everything4Less, which will soon be available to members both online and offline -- members can purchase products and services over either the Internet or via the telephone.
BuyItNow.com, a Web Plaza(TM) of product-focused Internet stores housed at www.buyitnow.com, will facilitate shopping online, design and promote the new Everything4Less in the following ways:
-- BuyItNow.com will be the exclusive online shopping component of
Everything4Less. That is, members can buy products at
www.buyitnow.com and realize additional savings below the
BuyItNow price;
-- BuyItNow.com will design and host Everything4Less.com online,
enabling members to buy products from BuyItNow.com over the
Internet; and
-- BuyItNow.com will direct market Everything4Less when its
customers are buying BuyItNow.com products online.
e4L owns 48.7 percent of the company that operates BuyItNow.com; the remaining shares are owned by BuyItNow Inc. and three strategic investors: Clear Channel Communications Inc., one of the largest media companies in the world; Snap.com, the fastest-growing Internet portal; and XOOM.com Inc., the fastest-growing community-based site on the Web.
e4L will leverage and benefit from the various synergies with Everything4Less and BuyItNow.com (e.g., discounts to Everything4Less members who buy products at www.buyitnow.com). However, the two entities are wholly distinct and separate.
Although both BuyItNow.com and Everything4Less will be promoted by e4L, their services and the method of promotion will be significantly different. For example, BuyItNow.com is a shopping-only Web site. Its URL will be displayed in e4L's infomercials, and e4L's hosts will promote BuyItNow.com as the exclusive online site to purchase e4L's ''As Seen on TV'' products.
Everything4Less is a membership services club that provides discount shopping (and a variety of other services) via the telephone. It will be promoted by ''America's favorite TV moms'' in a separate segment of the infomercial and through all inbound telephone calls.
Stephen C. Lehman, chairman and chief executive officer, stated: ''We are excited about the expanded services we can now offer our viewers, listeners and customers. For those customers who like to shop over the phone or the Internet and want discounts on a wide variety of products and services, Everything4Less can offer a terrific membership services club.
''For those who like to save money and time by shopping over the Internet, but don't like to become members to enjoy those savings, BuyItNow.com will offer both guaranteed low prices and knowledgeable customer service representatives who can answer questions online at the same time its customers are shopping. Truly, something for everyone.''
Lehman added: ''We are very pleased with the growth of Everything4Less. As each week went by and the number of trial members joining Everything4Less ramped to 10,000 each week, we became increasingly convinced that we needed to own 100 percent of the Everything4Less membership club.''
The company will conduct a conference call on Tuesday, June 29, 1999, at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time/10 a.m. Pacific Time. Interested participants should call 888/942-9685 in the United States and 415/228-5038 for international calls approximately 10 minutes prior to commencement of the call.
A conference call replay will be available from June 29, 1999, until July 6, 1999, through 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time by calling 800/294-1003 in the United States and 402/220-9757 for international calls. Steve Lehman will lead the call. The pass code is ''Lehman.''
Investors will also have the opportunity to listen to the conference call over the Internet through Vcall at vcall.com. Interested listeners should go to the Web site at least 15 minutes early to register, download and install any necessary audio software.
A conference call replay will be available via Vcall after the call, and a transcript will be available approximately 48 hours later.
e4L Inc. is the world's largest publicly held direct response television and radio company, selling consumer products via television, radio and the Internet. The company leverages this multimedia infrastructure to drive its e-commerce and membership programs.
e4L broadcasts more than 3,000 half hours of television programming each week throughout the world, reaches 100 percent of television homes in the United States, brings its programming to more than 270 million television households in more than 70 countries worldwide, and provides television and radio programming and shopping over the Internet.
It broadcasts the Everything4Less Show each week over network radio and simultaneously cybercasts the Show through broadcast.com over the Internet. e4L sells its ''As Seen on TV'' products via www.buyitnow.com, the e-tailing company it formed with BuyItNow Inc., Clear Channel Communications, Snap.com and Xoom.com. e4L offers membership-based discount products and services via Everything4Less.
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a ''safe harbor'' for forward-looking statements. Certain information included in this news release (as well as information included in oral statements or other written statements made or to be made by the company) contains statements that are forward-looking, such as statements relating to anticipated future revenues of the company and success of current product offerings. Such forward-looking information involves important risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect anticipated results in the future and, accordingly, such results may differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the company. For a description of additional risks and uncertainties, refer to the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commissions, including Forms 10-K and 10-Q.
Note to Editors: To request previous news releases on e4L Inc. or an investor's package, contact Suzanne Flaig at 818/461-6461.]
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Contact:
e4L Inc., Encino, Calif.
Bruce D. Goodman, 818/461-6510
bruce.goodman@e4L.com
Claudia De Llano, 818/461-6467
claudia.delano@e4L.com |
