FEBRUARY 18, 1997 AYLMER: ShowBase Inc. of Aylmer and RES International of Ottawa have combined their technological expertise to produce a complete turn-key electronic commerce solution.

"The integration of these two products from ShowBase and RES International is a natural fit," says Michel Desautels, president of ShowBase Inc. "ShowBase Shoppertm and BAZAR make it easy, cost-effective and safe for anyone to establish a virtual storefront on the Internet and participate in a virtual mall."

Virtual storefronts:

ShowBase Shopper is a software tool that let's retailers set-up a single virtual retailing storefront without any programming. The product has security features such as logins and encryption of data files as well as the ability to calculate tax and shipping charges. ShowBase Shopper includes the powerful ShowBase fraine and ShowBase Formstm letting retailers maintain statistics on the site activity, gather customer information and tailor each customers visit to the virtual storefront.

"By the turn of the century electronic commerce is projected to be in excess of $255 Billion (US) a year in the United States alone. ShowBase Shopper lowers the barriers to entry into Internet commerce for small or specialized retailers. Consumers will gain from this as well by getting access to more products at lower costs from more suppliers around the world with the convenience of shopping online," adds Desautels.

Virtual malls:

RES International's BAZAR products let electronic retailers join a virtual shopping mall by offering a complete merchant bank turn-key system. BAZAR includes everything required for a retailer to accept a customer's order, have that order securely processed with the financial institution and confirm the purchase with the customer.

"Security is a primary concern with electronic commerce today," says Philip G. Tambeau, vice president of marketing for RES International Inc., "With BAZAR at no time are credit card numbers transmitted across the Internet in an unsecured fashion. All details concerning credit cards are maintained in a secure site provided by the major banking community. The retailer only receives a confirmation number".

A total electronic commerce solution:

By combining RES BAZAR with ShowBase Shopper the two companies can deliver to Internet retailers a turn-key solution, complete with credit card transactions, virtual shopping carts, powerful multi-media catalog generation, sales and statistical reports. The tight integration of the two products makes implementation, management and updates easier for the customer.

The integrated solution allows on-line customers to browse ShowBase created storefronts in a virtual shopping mall. The BAZAR system allows hundreds of retailers to be located under the same virtual roof. This permits electronic retailers to combine their efforts to attract online customers without the costs of real estate, reduced inventory and reduced staffing costs. For the consumer virtual shopping malls offer convenience and a more efficient shopping experience they can do 24 hours a day seven days a week.

ShowBase will focus its sales efforts on the individual retailer and specialty boutiques. RES will continue to leverage its sales and marketing activities with a focus on the telephone companies, Internet Solution Providers (ISPs) and the virtual mall management organizations.

Pricing and availability:

The integration solution will be available from both ShowBase and RES in second quarter 1997. Pricing will be released at that time.

ShowBase Inc., headquartered in Aylmer Quebec, specializes in providing technically superior, highly integrated, easy to use and affordable database publishing solutions for the Internet and expanding corporate Intranet markets. The company is committed to lower the barriers to entry for any customer wanting to develop an Internet presence.

RES International is a Canadian public corporation established in 1980 with its headquarters in Ottawa. RES provides a wide range of Internet based electronic commerce products and services, turn-key applications and customized applications development services to government, private sector companies and international organizations.

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