Mercantec Press Release Contacts: Rachna Luthra Mercantec, Inc media@mercantec.com 630.305.3200, ext. 2111 Kristen Fundator Buzz divine 312-923-2060, ext. 37664 kristen.fundator@divineinterventures.com Mercantec® Partners with Five Internet Companies to Provide Its Market-Leading E-Commerce Solution E-tailors praise flexibility, scalability and ease of implementation CHICAGO–April 25, 2000 – Mercantec, Inc.®, the leading provider of Internet commerce software products and services, today announced it has recently signed licensing agreements with five leading Internet content and service providers and telecommunications firms. The companies include Wavve Telecommunications, Inc., Onvoy, Inc., Colo Solutions, Webbsite, Inc. and Rackspace.com. The agreements enable the companies to host and distribute Mercantec’s award-winning SoftCart® electronic commerce solution and provide their merchant customers with a fast and easy way to create and manage online stores that generate revenue via the Internet. The demand for Mercantec’s SoftCart solution is driven by small- and medium-size businesses’ need for a turnkey e-commerce solution. Responding to this demand, Internet content and service providers and telecommunications firms are turning to Mercantec for its affordable, flexible and easy-to-implement SoftCart solution. In the U.S. alone, the number of e-commerce websites will grow to 1,200,000 by 2003, an increase from 700,000 in 1999.* Small business e-commerce revenues are projected to reach $177.0 billion by 2003.* Merchants rave about SoftCart’s easy to use features that allow them to create, stock and operate online stores with consistent storefronts and integrated back-end payment and inventory systems that can be built into new or existing websites. "In order to provide clients with a dynamic e-commerce solution, we needed a strong product that provided flexible back-end support," said Bob Ingraham, President and CEO of Wavve Telecommunications, Inc. "SoftCart allows us to rapidly deploy a turnkey online presence for our customers that is robust, highly customizable and effective." Mercantec’s e-commerce solutions are actively used by more than 15,000 merchants worldwide through more than 200 Internet companies, reinforcing Mercantec’s leadership in this rapidly growing space. "Mercantec’s business model is based on licensing agreements with leading Internet content and service providers that support small- and medium-size merchants," said Andrew Parker, CEO and president of Mercantec. "As we make product enhancements, we actively seek feedback from our customers to best understand merchant needs. This helps us deliver the best solution on the market and allows the Internet service provides to create new revenue streams, attract new customers and reduce churn in a highly-competitive market." More about Mercantec’s five new partners: Wavve Telecommunications, Inc. (www.wavve.com) is a facilities-based provider of high performance managed data networking services providing physical and virtual hosting to e-commerce operations, commercial and industrial businesses and ISPs with critical Internet operations. Onvoy, Inc. (www.onvoy.com) is a provider of integrated voice, data and Internet services. Colo Solutions (www.colosolutions.com) is a provider of carrier-neutral colocation facilities and wholesale web hosting services. Webbsite, Inc. (www.webbsite.com) is a provider of website design and development and marketing services. Rackspace.com (www.rackspace.com) is a leading provider of Linux-based advanced Internet hosting services targeted to small- to medium-sized enterprises worldwide. It provides its customers with a first-class data center, a customized Internet server, burstable bandwidth, operating system, 24 x 7 management and hardware and software expertise. About SoftCart The winner of NewMedia magazine’s 1999 Hyper Award for Best Out-Of-The-Box Store, SoftCart enables merchants to quickly and easily build and maintain their online stores. Designed to be compatible with a merchant’s existing business systems, SoftCart has an open, API-based architecture that accommodates the widest range of databases, Web servers and browsers, order delivery options, tax and shipping models, and payment systems. This open architecture allows a website designer or systems integrator to tie SoftCart’s commerce capabilities into the merchant’s website at any stage in the site’s evolution – whether starting from scratch or adding commerce to an existing website. About Mercantec Established in 1995, Mercantec, Inc. is a leading global provider of software products and services that enable Internet commerce. Mercantec distributes complete e-commerce solutions through leveraged channels to small- to medium-sized businesses. Among those channels are service providers, financial organizations, and Internet content providers. Mercantec's Internet commerce solutions are used by more than 15,000 merchants worldwide through more than 200 industry leading Internet service providers, such as Verio/Hiway, EarthLink, MindSpring, Sprint, Interliant and Telephonica. Among those in the financial channel are American Express and DataPro Software. For additional company or product information, visit the Mercantec website, www.mercantec.com, or call 630-305-3200. # # # * eMarketer, "The eBusiness Report: Transforming Information Into Intelligence." Volume II, December 1999.