O'Reilly Automotive Announces E-commerce Entry

29 February 2000

O'Reilly Automotive Announces E-commerce Entry

    SPRINGFIELD, Mo.--Feb. 29, 2000--O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. ("O'Reilly") today announced that it will begin selling automotive accessories and performance products to consumers over the Internet from its web site, oreillyauto.com.
    This new e-commerce web site will be launched March 1, 2000, and will include over 3,200 automotive accessories and performance products uniquely displayed on the vehicles they are intended to fit. An additional 80,000 automotive accessory and performance items are available by calling the toll-free number displayed on the site. Merchandise ordered on the site will be shipped directly to the consumer.
    "This is the first step in implementing our Internet strategy and we are very excited about the outstanding opportunities e-commerce offers. We will continue to expand our presence on the Internet with the availability of our complete line of `hard parts' later this year. Our goal is to become one of the web's most complete automotive parts, accessory and performance products stores, by ultimately offering a full selection of both hard parts and accessories," stated Greg Henslee, Co-President.
    This new site was developed in partnership with Source One Marketing of Irvine, California. Established in 1997, Source One hosted the first site in the automotive aftermarket industry to offer full e-commerce capability.
    "We have developed successful traffic-building strategies and we have strong relationships with many information portals and automotive related sites. We are proud to be associated with O'Reilly Auto Parts in this new venture," said Craig Smith, president of Source One Marketing.
    "Our existing advertising efforts provide great opportunities for us to draw traffic to our web site. We plan to market our web site in all of our ads and promotions this year. Additionally, we are excited to be a full-fledged `clicks and mortar' entry to e-commerce and not just another portal facilitator. In phase two of this project, we will provide our customers with the option to obtain their merchandise from their local O'Reilly store or have it shipped directly to their home," stated David O'Reilly, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

    Statements contained in this press release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are necessary estimates reflecting the best judgment of the party making such statements based upon current information and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release or in other public statements of the Company should be considered in light of those factors. There can be no assurance that such factors will not affect the accuracy of such forward-looking statements. We assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.