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 Portugal's Leading Technology Distributor Insite Portugal to distribute Mercantec's e-commerce software; Mercantec SoftCart to penetrate market expected to grow 92 percent by 2003 CHICAGO - Tuesday, May 23, 2000, - Mercantec Inc., a leading provider of Internet commerce software products and services, today announced that Insite Portugal, a leading wholesale distributor of technology products and services, signed an agreement enabling Insite to license and distribute Mercantec's award-winning SoftCart® e-commerce solution to Internet service providers, commerce service providers (CSPs), and web hosting firms that cater to small- to medium-sized e-commerce businesses. A recent report by IDC*, a major US-based technology analyst firm, predicts that the Portuguese e-commerce market will grow from approximately $286 million in 2000 to more than $2 billion in just three years. As Portugal's leading wholesale distributor, Insite will capitalize on the country's growing demand for e-commerce solutions by selling SoftCart to CSPs, such as telecommunications companies and web hosting firms. Insite's partners will then be able to provide their e-merchant customers with Mercantec SoftCart, a fast and easy way to create and manage online stores that generate revenue via the Internet. Mercantec SoftCart is the leading e-commerce solution delivered through CSPs and web hosting providers and is available in more than 90 countries worldwide. SoftCart answers global online purchasing challenges by enabling international businesses to easily address global language translation and currency conversion and value added tax issues. "Mercantec offers us a complete, multi-language, multi-currency solution for international e-commerce that can be quickly implemented," said José Santos, vice president of sales for Insite Portugal. "It will help us set up a successful reseller web hosting business to offer CSPs a complete solution for the small-to-medium sized e-commerce market." "Our licensing agreement with Insite Portugal will enable Mercantec to further tap the European e-commerce market, strengthening our leading position," said Randy Pitzer, vice president of corporate communications for Mercantec. "The distributor agreement will enable Insite Portugal and their resellers to promote lower costs, accelerated delivery, and to add value to the business e-transaction." Mercantec SoftCart is endorsed by many of the world's leading Internet commerce service providers, including EarthLink, MindSpring, Interliant (Sage Networks) and Verio and is deployed by more than 15,000 merchants worldwide. SoftCart is a robust, easy-to-use electronic commerce solution that offers Internet service providers maximum performance and security, making it easy for them to deliver and support the electronic commerce demands of their customers. About Mercantec's Master Distributor Program Mercantec Master Distributors represent SoftCart products worldwide. These Master Distributors work with ISPs, Commerce Service Providers, Telcos, systems integrators, and web developers in their respective areas to become Mercantec resellers. As Master Distributors, Mercantec partners enjoy a number of benefits, including: Discounts on the Mercantec SoftCart suite of products Mercantec's cooperative marketing and sales support programs designed to help Master Distributors drive business opportunities Access to the Mercantec Merchant Services website, which provides services to merchants licensing the software Product support and technical training, enabling the Distributor to provide first level sales and technical support for CSPs 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 Insite Portugal Established in 1999, Insite Portugal is one of the youngest dotcom leaders of the Portuguese market. Having started its Internet strategy focused on building traffic through community sites, Insite Portugal's one year old community site - Portugalmail.pt - is already the most successful online community and is expected to gather over 30% of Portuguese Internet users by the end of 2000. InsiteCom (Insite Portugal's technology branch) has partnered with several proficient companies to provide e-business in Portugal the best solutions available. InsiteCom distributes turn-key solutions to Internet content providers and high traffic sites. 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. # # # * Study conducted by Warburg Dillon Read WRD-IDC