Background Information On E-FORCE
See... http://www.eforce.co.nz/
In this release:
WHAT IS EFORCE
EFORCE PRODUCTS AND
SERVICES
THE .COM DECADE
GUY COOK - EFORCE
DIRECTOR
WHAT IS EFORCE?
· Eforce is an internet
information portal or 'infomediary':
- a consumer
representative which filters the increasing amount of
products and services available on the internet
- an
internet-based middleman who facilitates the flow of
information between buyers and sellers.
The concept of the web-based intermediary has been put into practice in the United States, with sites such as yesmail.com, letsbuyit.com, consumerreview.com, and accompany.com.
· Eforce is an eCommerce first for New Zealand consumers.
· Eforce offers the first and only investment exposure to the eCommerce sector based around the infomediary business model.
· Eforce's first mission and marketing focus is to help its members save money.
Membership and Ownership
· Membership of Eforce is free.
· Members have the opportunity to share in the long term growth and success of the company by becoming shareholders of Eforce…
· Or they can remain members only and simply take advantage of the products and services offered through the portal.
This is a win-win proposition for
members:
§ As part of the Eforce consumer cooperative,
Members are exposed to exclusive product and service deals
that can be achieved through power in numbers and the online
environment;
§ As Shareholders of the Company, taking
advantage of Eforce offers contributes to the overall
profitability of the Company, in turn enhancing shareholder
value.
How does Eforce work?
· Eforce works like an online co-operative. It gathers together a critical mass of people and uses the bargaining power this generates to attract preferential deals from product and service retailers.
· Registered members of the Eforce consumer group provide information about themselves. This information is used to ensure that members are alerted to products and services on the Eforce site that are of interest to them.
· This member database also offers businesses a targeted marketing channel of considerable commercial value.
· A low cost structure;
- using the internet to
literally bypass inventory and warehousing costs
-
communicating with members by email
means that Eforce has
the ability to promote products and services to a large
audience highly efficiently.
· Eforce will generate
revenue in six key areas:
1. Charging an introduction fee
to service based companies
2. Percentage of sales revenue
from affiliated eCommerce sites
3. Revenue from Eforce's
eCommerce products
4. Charging advertisers for sending
targeted emails to Eforce members
5. The sale of
advertising space on the Eforce website
6. Revenue from
joint ventures with successful overseas
companies
EFORCE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Eforce Products & Services
At launch, Eforce offers the products and services detailed below. Eforce is currently developing six additional products and services that will be made available to members over the first six months of site operation.
PowerChoice
PowerChoice allows Eforce
members to instantly compare the rates of their current
electricity provider with the rates of other local
providers, using the Powerchoice calculator.
· In some
cases customers could save well over $40.00 per month simply
by switching power companies (because of the effort required
to find this out most people don't bother).
· If members
then want to switch power suppliers they can do so at the
'click of a mouse'.
· Eforce receives a commission from
the power provider for the switch.
Over three percent of New Zealand's estimated 1.7 million electricity customers 'churned' in the first eight months of competition. NZ Household Churn rates to date are shown in the graph below (churn = power customer changing supplier).
Amazon FreightLink
Eforce is an official associate of Amazon.com,
the world's largest and most sophisticated online book and
CD store. A major deterrent to New Zealanders ordering
goods regularly from Amazon.com (or anywhere else in
America) is the cost and time delay involved with shipping
goods to this side of the world.
· Eforce makes it
cheaper and quicker to ship books from Amazon.com by bulk
freighting members' purchases, which are then delivered
directly to their home.
· Eforce members receive their
books delivered to the door in 14 days from the order date.
Members will only pay for the freight of purchases from
Amazon.com to its freight consolidation point within the
US.
· Eforce receives a commission from Amazon.com for
introducing customers
through its site. Eforce members
must click through to Amazon.com from the Eforce site to
utilise Freightlink.
Co-Buy
Eforce members who want
to buy the same product band together to increase purchasing
power. (Similar to US sites such as accompany.com and
letsbuyit.com).
· For any product available on Co-Buy,
prices will reduce when one item, five items and 10 or more
items are purchased.
· Price for each product's price
lowers as more customers indicate they are prepared to buy
that product. The more people who are prepared to buy, the
lower the price.
· Co-Buy will serve the NZ and
Australian markets and
· In addition to products that
Eforce chooses for the Co-Buy site, members will have the
opportunity to suggest products to be offered on
Co-Buy.
Subscribe Now
Subscribe Now makes it easy -
and cheaper - for Eforce members to subscribe to magazines
by centralising subscriptions in one place.
· Eforce
members can subscribe to a range of different magazines from
around the world at great prices.
· The magazines
available range from specialised titles such as Netguide and
NZ Snowboarder, to more generic magazines such as New Idea,
Trends and Unlimited.
· Eforce receives a commission from
magazine publishers/importers. Approximately half of this
commission will be Eforce revenue. The remaining half will
be passed onto Eforce members as a discounted subscription
rate.
Security
Esafe
Esafe is a security service offered to Eforce members, guaranteeing the authenticity and service levels of Eforce affiliated organisations or partner companies. Esafe acts as a guarantor of the credit card transactions undertaken by its members with companies involved in delivering Eforce products.
THE .COM
DECADE
Doing Business On The Internet
· The internet is the fastest growing industry and communications system ever.
· By 2004, total eCommerce worldwide is expected to grow from $46 billion in 1999 to reach $1.3 trillion - this is 4% of the global economy.
§ This year, Americans will buy about $40 billion worth of consumer goods online.
§ It
is expected that this will rise to $328 billion in 2003
(source: Forrester Research Inc.)
· New Zealand currently has 1.14 million people online, either at work or at home.
· This is expected to climb to 1.9 million by 2004.
· New Zealanders will spend approximately $US275
million over the internet this year, rising to $US2.7
billion by the end of 2004.
(source: International Data
Corporation)
· New Zealand has a greater number of
internet connected PCs per capita than Australia, the United
Kingdom or California's Silicon Valley.
Infomediaries
In New Zealand, Eforce is the first and only internet business based around the infomediary concept.
Infomediaries offer more than online versions of
established retail models.
Infomediaries are the new
direction in eCommerce. As the variety of products and
services available on the internet increases exponentially,
the need for a trusted middleman to guide consumers to the
best purchasing decisions is becoming fundamental.
An
infomediary:
· is an internet-based middleman who
facilitates the flow of information between buyers and
sellers.
· operates in markets that are fragmented either
geographically or because of the absence of any dominant
firms.
· can operate in various forms; auctioneers,
brokers, clearing houses, consumer advocates.
· exists on
the basis of aggregated commerce - power in numbers - and is
consumer focused.
· gathers together a large group of
consumers (individuals or businesses) using the buying power
this generates to attract preferential deals from product
and service providers.
In the United States the
business-to-business infomediary market alone is predicted
to grow from $290m in 1998, to around $20 billion by 2002.
(source: Volpe Brown Whelan)
· Existing infomediary sites have thrived including eBay.com, yesmail.com, letsbuyit.com, consumerreview.com, accompany.com and adauction.com.
The web-based infomediary model is
cited
as the new direction for eCommerce:
"Aggregated
buying is the next wave in e-commerce. Where big companies
and organisations have long received volume discounts, the
Net makes it possible for individual consumers to act like
one organisation."
Marc Andreessen, co-founder of
Netscape and chief technology office for America Online
(AOL).
"A new age is upon us. The role of intermediaries
in our economy will expand, not contract - although it will
change substantially.
"Just as our ancestors needed people
to package, transport, and distribute their goods, we need
people that have the time and technology to search through a
vast array of offerings on the Internet. In the future,
instead of dealing with the service providers, you may only
have to do business with "Acme Brokerage"."
Sir Gil
Simpson, CEO, Aoraki Corporation
"There will be new
web-based intermediaries between utilities and customers
that encourage customers to shop around for lower prices.
These should feature in any utility company's strategic
planning."
Deloitte Consulting
GUY COOK
Guy
Cook
US - Vice President of Qwest Communications
NZ -
Eforce Board member
· Founder of Colorado SuperNet, the largest ISP in the Rocky Mountain Region.
· As CEO of SuperNet, in 1997 he oversaw the acquisition of the company by Qwest Communications for US$20 million.
· Qwest
Communications is an Internet communications company at the
leading edge in Internet applications, services and network
design. Qwest operates internationally, delivering Internet
systems and applications built with the industry's most
advanced technology.
Qwest is:
· One of the top 100
technology companies in the world (Red Herring)
· One of
40 companies driving the new economy (Wired)
· As Vice-President of Qwest Communications and a key member of Qwest's senior management team, Mr Cook plays a central role in the design, development and implementation of Qwest data strategy. He has led European operations and assessments of the EUNet.
· Other professional experience includes:
·
five years as Staff Director at the United States House of
Representatives
· Telecom/datacom management experience
with US West
· Founder of the South African Internet
Corporation.
· Mr Cook is a notable figure in the
internet business sector in the United States.
· He has
made over 200 industry presentations and key note addresses
over the last seven years.
· Also serves on numerous boards and advisory councils including the Executive Committee of the Global Distance learning Association Board, the Colorado Advanced Technology Institute, the University of Denver Telecommunications Advisory Council and several corporate boards.
ENDS