Parts.com to Serve as Parts Exchange For One of Nation's Largest Ford and Toyota Dealerships
6 December 1999
Parts.com to Serve as Parts Exchange For One of Nation's Largest Ford and Toyota Dealerships
Pipeline of Additional Dealerships and Alliances Continues to Expand
Parts.com Receives Over 2 Million Monthly Hits, Despite No Advertising
Company Outlines Strategy for Parts.com Business Model
SANFORD, Fla., Dec. 6 -- Miracom Corporation
(OTC Bulletin Board: MIRM), a developer and owner of business-to-business
e-commerce services and the holding company for Parts.com(TM), a
business-to-business e-commerce parts exchange, today announced the signing of
a Platinum Distribution Agreement with Sacramento, California-based Folsom
Lake Enterprises for Ford, Toyota, Chrysler, Jeep, Kia and Hummer parts for
Parts.com's Western Regional Territory. Each Platinum Supplier will have the
first opportunity to pick, pack, ship or deliver all parts which originate
from their territory and vehicle line responsibility. The agreement includes
exclusive rights for the distribution of automotive parts for those vehicle
lines in a 13 state region spanning from Hawaii to New Mexico. Under the
terms of the two-year agreement, Miracom will receive an annual payment of
$95,000 in addition to a transaction fee for parts sold via the Parts.com
exchange.
Folsom Lake Enterprises is one of the largest Ford and Toyota dealerships
in the country. The dealership, one of the most profitable in the nation,
sold over $15 million in just Ford and Toyota parts in 1998 with 1999 figures
expected to be substantially higher than 1998.
"Over the past 45 days, we have met with some of the most prestigious
dealer groups in the country," said Shawn Lucas, Chairman and Co-CEO of
Miracom Corporation. "The dozens of pending territory/vehicle line agreements
under review will be announced singly or in groups as they are finalized. Our
Parts.com site has attracted the elite of parts sales and distribution in the
industry, and with their support, we are planning to emerge as the dominant
force in parts sales on the Internet," concluded Mr. Lucas.
"Parts.com could be one of the most exciting business opportunities in the
automotive industry in the last decade," said Chuck Peterson, President and
CEO of Folsom Lake Enterprises. "Parts.com has a superior business model that
has effectively addressed the complex business-to-business operations required
to supply this huge market. It may revolutionize e-commerce automotive parts
and accessory sales and distribution worldwide. I am extremely excited to be
in on the ground floor and look forward to utilizing Parts.com to grow our
company's sales and profits."
"I am certain we could not have found a better supplier to represent our
interests in the West than Chuck Peterson of Folsom Lake Enterprises," said
Jeffrey Odato, Vice President National Sales, Parts.com. "He has an
outstanding reputation for growing one of the finest automotive organizations
in the West. Chuck is a smart business man and is extremely astute about the
future of e-commerce. He shares our vision for the growth of Parts.com and
the major impact we hope to make on the auto parts industry. We look forward
to working with his company as we initiate the fulfillment of our expectation
to rapidly ramp-up sales at Parts.com."
Parts.com Receives Over 2 Million Hits Per Month
The Company also reported today that its Parts.com site has begun to
generate more than 2 million hits per month despite no advertising for the
site. The Company expects the site's traffic to increase substantially as it
begins to implement an aggressive marketing and advertising campaign,
currently scheduled to commence in the first quarter of 2000.
Company Outlines Parts.com Business Model
On January 24, 1999, Parts.com will be launched at the National
Automobile Dealerships Association (NADA), the largest automobile dealership
association in the world, in Orlando, Florida. The site will offer nearly
2 million searchable automotive parts and accessories. The Company's plans
call for an expanded catalog of almost 5 million searchable parts by the end
of 2000.
Parts.com Model Calls For 165 Platinum Suppliers
Parts.com utilizes a multi-level business model concurrent with its
e-commerce web site to reward suppliers throughout the network chain. At the
first level, the model calls for dividing the United States into five regional
territories. Each protected territory will have a single designated "Platinum
Supplier." In the event the Platinum Supplier cannot fulfill an order or a
portion of an order as a result of not having the part available; or cannot
fulfill the order within the customers time parameters, then the order will
then be referred to our "Gold Supplier" network. In any event, and in all
instances, the Platinum Supplier enjoys profit participation from the sale
which is deferred to the Gold Supplier. There will only be 165 total Platinum
Suppliers in the Parts.com network serving the world's automotive parts and
accessory needs.
Parts.com Model Calls For 210 Gold Suppliers
The Parts.com "Gold Supplier Network" is made up of a much broader base
of suppliers who reside within the same regional territories as the Platinum
Suppliers and will support the same product lines. The Gold Supplier will act
as a fail-safe or secondary fulfillment source in the event the Platinum
Supplier does not have a requested part or more importantly, cannot meet the
urgent "same day" time parameters which could be placed on the order by the
customer. "This is where the Parts.com model excels in superiority of design
and function," continued Mr. Odato.
The future and ultimate goal of the Parts.com will be to deliver parts to
customers with critical time frames such as repair shops in as little as
two hours. In order to realize these time sensitive goals, the Company plans
to establish 210 Gold Suppliers per vehicle line throughout the United States.
The 210 DMA'S (Dominant Market Areas) will emulate the top 210 broadcast
television markets in the country and will maximize delivery efficiencies on
same day product and oversize product requests. Because the
business-to-business side of the Parts.com promises to be significant, the
Gold Supplier Network will be a vital and logistically important link in the
overall model. The Gold Supplier earns a portion of the gross profit of the
sale; however, provisions are made for Platinum Suppliers to share a
percentage of the Parts.com's transaction fees even when parts are referred to
other Suppliers.
Silver Supplier Network
Rounding off the Platinum and Gold Supplier tiers will be the "Silver
Supplier Network." The Silver Network Associates will fortify the Parts.com
supplier network by providing the foundation of the Company's plans to
establish the world's largest on-line parts locator network (PLN). Silver
Network Associates will be traditional dealers or any entity which supplies
and inventories automotive parts and accessories. Silver will be the final
level to which a request will default to in instances where the Platinum or
Gold Suppliers cannot deliver on a product request. Silver Network Associates
(as well as Platinum and Gold dealers) will be eligible to place parts and
accessories on-line for auction and on-line trading without restriction to
quantities or frequency.
OCTANE System to Fuel Parts.com
The engine behind the Parts.com network is the Company's back-end
component called "OCTANE" or Order Control Tracking and Networking
Environment. This full service application is a self-contained, secure, web
enabled back-end solution. OCTANE addresses all the suppliers' control and
fulfillment needs, including order processing, picking, packing and shipping
logistics, inventory management, Customer Service Representatives (CSR)
management tools, Return Management Authorization (RMA), Request for Quote
(RFQ) and Request for Proposal (RFP).
About Miracom Corporation
Miracom Corporation is a developer and owner of business-to-business
e-commerce services and the holding company for Parts.com and
ReallyKnow.com(TM). Based in Sanford, Florida, Miracom Corporation owns and
operates the Parts.com (http://www.Parts.com), an e-commerce business-to-business
parts exchange, and ReallyKnow.com (http://www.ReallyKnow.com), a Web-enabled
real-time data gathering system which is revolutionizing the research field.
Other products developed and owned by Miracom include: Epolicy(TM), a
Web-enabled, back-end software; and QuickQuote 2000(TM), the front-end
complement to Epolicy(TM).
This news release includes statements that may constitute forward-looking
statements pursuant to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although Miracom Corporation believes the
expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on
reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be
met. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
Miracom's expectations include the operational performance of Parts.com, the
Company's success in entering into strategic alliances, Parts.com's and
ReallyKnow.com's operational and financial performance, industry conditions,
demand for its products as well as other risks.