Network Commerce launches upgraded Freemerchant.com membership program

[March 28th 2001]

Network Commerce Inc. has announced a newly upgraded membership program on FreeMerchant.com and the launch of the InternetMall.com, a FreeMerchant members-only online mall.

FreeMerchant, the company's award-winning e-commerce technology and application service provider (ASP), offers e-commerce products and services to small businesses. Through its online store builder and Web hosting service, FreeMerchant offers small businesses a low-cost entry point to e-commerce.

With the launch of InternetMall.com, FreeMerchant now also provides merchants with a new venue to sell their products online while delivering hundreds of thousands of shoppers directly to the merchants' doors. Shoppers can search for products among thousands of FreeMerchant member stores in categories such as art, automotive, beauty and health, books, collectibles, computer hardware and software, crafts, and more.

The FreeMerchant membership program now has three levels designed for businesses and merchants with varying levels of activity in their online stores:

Bronze Level ($24.99/month or $240.00/year) -- This package includes self-service and email support, Internet store hosting, online store builder, catalog importer, real domain hosting, traffic logs, banner exchange, inventory control, store templates, discounted corporate services and offers, secure shopping cart, membership in the InternetMall, shipping calculator, tax calculator, coupon creator, payment gateway interfaces, automated inventory control, map maker, best practices Web book, customer list management for up to 250 customers and search engine submission.

Silver Level ($29.99/month or $299.00/year) -- This level includes all the features from the Bronze level plus customer list management for up to 500 customers, listing in the b2bNow.com Business Center directory, a members-only bulletin board service, domain with email and URL forwarding, and fax order confirmation.

Gold Level ($49.99/month or $480.00/year) -- The Gold level includes all the features of the Silver level plus an eBay export tool, accounting export tool, membership on the FreeMerchant advisory board, and customer list management for up to 1,000 people.

FreeMerchant also offers a 30-day free trial designed to give merchants interested in advertising and promoting their products a chance to build a store and test features before making the commitment to a full online strategy. Features include self-service support, hosting, online store builder, real domain hosting, traffic logs, banner exchange, discounted corporate services and offers, store templates, catalog importer, manual inventory control, Web store best practices workbook, and customer list management for up to 10 people.

"We believe FreeMerchant is one of the best and most competitively priced online store building solutions on the Internet," said Jennifer Rogers, senior vice president of Network Commerce. "The response to our upgraded membership program has been excellent. Our merchants value the combination of education, information and advanced features FreeMerchant offers that help them build, manage and grow their online businesses."

Links
Freemerchant.com		http://www.freemerchant.com