Merisel announces robust on-line information service network; a step beyond electronic order-entry

Business Wire, Nov 15, 1994

EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 15, 1994--Merisel Tuesday introduced SELline, the master on-line information service network and order-entry system.

Understanding that today's reseller needs have outgrown traditional on-line order-entry systems, SELline has been developed to not only offer quick and easy order placement, real-time pricing status information and e-mail, but to provide an entirely new level of interactive on-line information services.

SELline is available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, including holidays, throughout the United States and Canada. It will be released in the first quarter of 1995.

``SELline combines order-entry capabilities with volumes of information not available from any other on-line service in the industry,'' said Mona McCallister, Merisel's director of product information services.

``It allows Merisel's business partners to quickly and easily communicate with Merisel and other channel members on the information superhighway. The result is increased operating efficiency and more valuable time to spend closing sales with customers.''

SELline is expected to change the way Merisel's business partners do business. It is filled with a comprehensive list of features and benefits for resellers and manufacturers. SELline's reseller information service advantages include:

-- custom pricing and unattended updates

-- full Internet access

-- interactive conferences and training

-- access to more than 1,000 data sources, including computer

trade and Merisel publications

-- technical support and manufacturer forums

-- downloadable demos and shareware

-- downloadable product spec sheets and technical descriptions

-- off-line order building

-- end-user catalog creation

-- sneak peeks at Merisel's Hot List for popular products and

Red Tag for discontinued and demo products

-- announcements of special offers and new products

Manufacturers will also benefit from using SELline as a timely announcement vehicle and a feedback mechanism to understand and guide product and business trends and to use as a new marketing solution.

They will be able to hold interactive, real-time conferences; conduct surveys; store downloadable demos, leads and other documents; sponsor message boards; develop custom sales and support tools; and much more.

``With increasing competition and eroding margins, it is essential that all channel players look for ways to lower costs and remain profitable,'' said Merisel President John Connors.

``SELline's information services exceed the capabilities of today's order-entry systems such as Dial-Up SalesNet and CAPS, while providing many opportunities for our business partners to lower operating cost and increase profitability. We have been defining both the concept and the product requirements since 1993, and selected a flexible system that can continue to grow and respond to the market's needs.''

SELline provides a friendly, point-and-click, Windows-based interface. It takes advantage of SpaceWorks' robust interactive on-line service and staff expertise in on-line information systems. SpaceWorks Inc. is a leader in business-to-business, on-line communications with international breadth intended for manufacturers, resellers, sales people and end-users.

SpaceWorks has full multi-tasking, WYSIWYG and multimedia capabilities, including sound, graphics, video and text. Merisel is able to customize the application to respond to the needs of resellers today and tomorrow.

Future SELline enhancements such as a Mac SELline version, a state-of-the-art configurator to build and validate solutions, increased third-party offerings, illustrated catalog capabilities and enhanced order-entry functionality, including end-user quote capability, on-line back-order approval, order shipment tracking, automated credit processing and RMA processing, are planned for mid- to late 1995.

Getting on-line with SELline is simple. Merisel encourages resellers to place orders on SELline by eliminating the barrier of a monthly fee and offering free start-up software kits, and free order-entry services for a limited time. There are no special hardware requirements (minimum: Windows PC, 4 MB RAM, 4 MB available hard drive and modem -- 14.4 baud and lower supported).

SpaceWorks, with headquarters in Rockville, Md., is a privately held company that provides the SpaceWorks on-line service -- the third generation of on-line services. SpaceWorks is a Windows-based interactive business-to-business on-line service that offers on-line data storage and access, data exchange and interactivity, and on-line news and announcements. The SpaceWorks on-line service is available in more than 90 countries.

Merisel Inc. (NASDAQ:MSEL) is the industry's first Master Distributor, combining the strengths of a full-line distributor with those of an aggregator. The company sells a full line of 30,000 hardware and software products from more than 900 of the industry's leading manufacturers to more than 65,000 resellers worldwide, including more than 750 ComputerLand franchisees and Datago affiliates.