Leading U.S. Computer Retailer to Offer E-Services; At Your e-Service and Micro Center to Offer Powerful, Online Business Services

Business Wire, May 14, 2001

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

CAMPBELL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 14, 2001

At Your e-Service, a publisher of Web-based applications and services for business users, and Micro Center, a national computer retailer and subsidiary of Micro Electronics, Inc. of Columbus, Ohio, today announced that beginning June 4, e-services will be available for purchase at Micro Center stores located across the U.S. As a publisher of e-services, At Your e-Service evaluated and selected proven e-service solutions that will benefit Micro Center's small- to medium-sized business customers. Examples of e-services to be available at Micro Center include: financial analysis, time and expense tracking, project management, Web development, Web management and Web marketing.

E-services, a market expected to reach $78.6 billion by 2003 (IDC Research), are Web-based applications or services that are hosted and maintained by a provider and accessible to customers through a Web browser. E-services are especially attractive to companies with little or no IT support since they allow customers to perform valuable business operations that they otherwise could not afford. For instance, a customer wanting to promote and sell goods online could do so almost immediately for as low as $79 a month, instead of needing to pay a large up-front investment in software and hardware and without having to install and maintain these systems. With e-services, small-to medium-sized businesses can utilize advanced computing capabilities that were previously only affordable for Fortune 1000 companies.

"By expanding our product selection to include e-services, we are delivering on our mission to provide the broadest range of computing solutions," said Tom Fritz, president of Micro Center. "At Your e-Service's turn-key program is making it possible for us to offer e-services to our customers as a new method of software application delivery for those who prefer it."

"We saw Micro Center's large customer base of businesses as a perfect fit for e-services," said Diane Archer, CEO of At Your e-Service. "Our aim is to accelerate the adoption rate of e-services by establishing e-services as a visible category of products that can be conveniently purchased where customers are accustomed to selecting computer products."

Each e-service title from At Your e-Service consists of a special introductory offer that is available only through participating resellers and retail stores.

"The availability of e-services at retail stores, such as Micro Center, stands to serve as a catalyst for growth in the emerging e-services market and is a win for business customers, e-service providers and resellers alike," said Robert McCullough, industry analyst with research firm Hurwitz Group. "E-service providers can now reach millions of customers who buy computer solutions through resellers, while resellers can easily participate in a new high-growth market without having to invest in a new infrastructure to support it."

E-Service Providers Also to Benefit

Today, retail application software sales still far outweigh online sales. According to PC Data, online sales represent only about 4.5 percent of total retail software sales. For e-service providers that want to expand beyond their online sales efforts, At Your e-Service provides an affordable and efficient way to reach the vast numbers of traditional retail customers.

To introduce e-services to Micro Center customers, At Your e-Service is implementing a joint marketing campaign with Micro Center to highlight the various e-service vendors. At Your e-Service also will merchandize e-services in special displays in order to help customers understand the product benefits. In addition, At Your e-Service is executing product promotions, customer events with representatives from At Your e-Service at Micro Center store locations, as well as advertising and training programs.

About At Your e-Service

At Your e-Service is the first and only single source of distribution and promotion through traditional and online channels for the billion dollar Web-based services and applications market. At Your e-Service delivers Web-based applications to the mainstream business market by leveraging longstanding reseller relationships and utilizing a proficient team of channel veterans that has generated over $1 billion in channel sell-through. At Your e-Service is a division of Frontline Now!, founded in 1998. For more information, please visit the company's Web site at http://www.atyoureservice.com or call 408/871-4848.

About Micro Center

Micro Center is one of nine Micro Electronics, Inc. subsidiaries. Home Office is located in Columbus, Ohio. Other companies under the Micro Electronics, Inc. umbrella include: MEI-Micro Center, Micro Center Computer Education, PowerSpec, Redemtech, WinBook Corp. and WinBook Computer Corp. Micro Electronics, Inc. is a privately held company, located in Columbus, Ohio, and ranks 145 on Forbes 1999 Top Private Companies list.

Note to Editors: At Your e-Service and Frontline Now! are registered trademarks of Frontline Now!. Company and product names in this document may be trademarks of others.