Ihug To Fast Forward With Video Ezy

IHUG ON FAST FORWARD WITH
VIDEO EZY

Leading Internet company IHUG is expanding its home entertainment empire with a move into video hire.

IHUG is to join forces with New Zealand’s largest video supplier, Video Ezy. The company has acquired a 51% shareholding in Video Ezy International (NZ) Ltd (VENZ).

IHUG Director Tim Wood says the move is part of IHUG’s long term plans to introduce online ordering and delivery services for a wide range of goods.

“Video hire is going to be one of the key components in e-mmediate – our new online delivery service,” he says.

“E-mmediate is the first step in the true e-Commerce fulfillment arena. Our customers can look forward to ever increasing choice and convenience when ordering from home or the workplace.

“Expanding our business with Video Ezy in particular, will also have long-term benefits for IHUG customers. We’ll be exploring a variety of ways of rewarding customer loyalty through the new business.”

Video Ezy is this country’s most successful video hire company, with 114 outlets nationwide and more than 600 thousand database members. The company is New Zealand’s market leader, handling around 150 thousand transactions every week.

Company Director Russell Clark says the merger with IHUG is believed to be the first time a video hire retailer has teamed up with an Internet Service Provider.

“The involvement of IHUG is great news for the company and our franchisees,” he says. “It will allow us to take advantage of new technologies through the Internet, introduce the convenience of home delivery to our customers, and expand our retail base around New Zealand.”

Mr Clark says plans for New Zealand’s first online ordering site for video hire are now well advanced. The new website is currently being tested.

The management structure and Head Office operations of Video Ezy will not be affected by the new arrangement. The directors of the company will be Russell Clark, Kevin Peterson (Video Ezy), Nick Wood (IHUG), and Rob Campbell (Tappenden Holdings Ltd, a large shareholder in IHUG)

* E-mmediate

Launched earlier this month, e-mmediate is an innovative real time online ordering and delivery service for a range of goods and services. The service is being trialled in Auckland before a nationwide rollout.
From the e-mmediate Web site, Internet users will be able to hire or buy anything from a pizza and a video to dry cleaning and magazines. Their order will be processed immediately and delivered from the appropriate local store within the hour or at a prearranged time.
Sophisticated software allows e-mmediate users to browse and search almost in the same way they would in a shop. The new service was demonstrated recently at the 2000 New Zealand Technology Conference in Auckland.

ENDS

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