HOMESTEAD TECHNOLOGIES AND KURANT PARTNER TO DELIVER ELECTRONIC COMMERCE TO SMALL BUSINESSES
Kurant`s Award-Winning E-Business Technology StoreSense to Power Homestead
Professional Commerce Solutions
SAN FRANCISCO and MENLO PARK, Calif. - May 21, 2001 - Kurant Corporation,
the leading provider of e-business software and services, and Homestead
Technologies Inc., the leading provider of Web site building services, today
announced a strategic partnership to deliver electronic commerce to small
business. Under the agreement, Homestead will integrate Kurant`s
award-winning e-commerce solution StoreSense(tm) into its recently launched
Homestead(r) Professional service. The joint offering will be available for
professionals, small businesses and organizations in Q3 2001 at
www.homestead.com.
The StoreSense-powered commerce solution will offer Homestead members a full
range of e-commerce functionality, beginning with entry-level catalog,
shopping cart and real-time transaction processing and extending to high-end
inventory management and sophisticated supply chain communication.
Homestead members will be able to build customized online catalogs, run
special promotions, offer affiliate programs and frequent buyer clubs,
cross-sell and up-sell products, perform detailed tracking of business
metrics, and more.
StoreSense is fully customizable to fit with a vendor`s existing branded
offering. The product`s ground-breaking architecture enables Homestead to
add new and innovative commerce capabilities to Homestead Professional,
while maintaining a high-quality, exceptional user experience. StoreSense`s
XML transaction engine and Java-based framework provide seamless integration
with other applications and allows it to scale easily in order to serve the
large and growing Homestead member base.
"StoreSense is a best-of-breed solution that will enable us to extend
Homestead Professional with leading e-commerce capabilities," said Michael
Geller, vice president of business development at Homestead Technologies.
"We`ve built our reputation and our extensive member base by delivering
products that consistently exceed member expectations for quality,
ease-of-use, and technical innovation. Partnering with Kurant will allow us
to extend this leadership to include electronic commerce and deliver
exceptional value to Homestead members."
"Homestead has been a true Internet trailblazer, proving that there`s real
value in providing customers with a simple yet powerful means to build an
online presence," said Curtis Pierce, CEO of Kurant Corporation. "We`re
honored to play a part in extending that value to small business. Working
together, we believe Kurant and Homestead can change the world for small
companies, offering them new ways to conduct business and communicate with
their customers."
About Homestead Professional
Homestead Professional breaks down the technical barriers to creating a
professional Web presence, enabling anyone to conduct and grow their
business online. Designed for small business and small office/home office
workers, Homestead Professional combines the next generation of the
company`s award-winning Web-site building software with enhanced features
such as advanced site creation tools, domain name and email accounts,
world-class hosting, and marketing and commerce capabilities. Starting at
$29.99 per month, Homestead`s intuitive solution fills the gap between
high-priced Web designers and cookie-cutter Web tools offered by other
online services, allowing members to build full-featured,
professional-quality, customized Web sites quickly and easily.
About Homestead
Homestead Technologies Inc. is the leading Web-site building service that
provides consumers and professionals with a non-technical solution to build
and maintain an Internet presence. Homestead members can take advantage of
the Homestead Professional service or the Homestead Personal service.
Homestead Professional is a powerful and intuitive new Web site building
service designed for professionals and small businesses who need an online
presence but lack the time and technical resources to create one. Homestead
Professional offers powerful publishing, hosting, marketing and commerce
capabilities that help professionals easily and efficiently establish and
maintain a unique Internet presence. Homestead Personal is the company`s
award-winning, easy-to-use service that enables anyone to communicate with
friends and family through highly personalized Web sites. More than 11
million registered members have built customizable Web sites using the
company`s proprietary drag and drop Element technology. Elements include
everything from text boxes, buttons and photos to dynamic features such as
chat rooms and e-commerce payment processing. The company is based in Menlo
Park, California, and its services are available at www.homestead.com.
About StoreSense
StoreSense is an award-winning e-business software platform that allows
large corporations with respected brands to deliver tightly integrated,
web-based services to their small and medium-size business customers. With
StoreSense, corporations can provide their customers with the core software
tools and services needed to conduct business online, including electronic
commerce and mobile commerce, supply chain communication and inventory,
sales and customer management. Available through an extensive global
network of partners, StoreSense is offered on a cost-effective subscription
basis and runs on Windows 2000, Windows NT, Linux and Solaris platforms.
For more information, contact Kurant at www.kurant.com or (888) 463-2696.
About Kurant
Kurant Corporation (http://www.kurant.com/) specializes in software
solutions that allow business aggregators to build and host e-business
services. Kurant`s flagship product, StoreSense, has garnered numerous
industry awards, including Web Hosting magazine`s 2000 Editors` Choice Award
for "Hottest New E-Commerce Software Contender", Smart Business magazine`s
2001 MVP Award for "Best E-Commerce Storefront Hosting", Yahoo! Internet
Life magazine`s Gold Star Site distinction for "Best Fee-Based Services",
and Computer Reseller News` 2000 Editor`s Choice for "Best Storefront
E-Commerce Software". Founded in 1996, San Francisco-based Kurant is
privately held and has received investments from Deep River Ventures, Cobalt
Networks, Garage.com, Group One, and TransAtlantic Partners.
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NOTE: Brands and products referenced herein are the trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective holders.
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