Gateway Simplifies E-Commerce for Small and Medium Businesses

June 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Gateway, Inc. (NYSE: GTW), the trusted technology advisor to small and medium businesses, today enhanced its eBusiness offerings with an easy-to-use e-commerce software package and a hands-on workshop. With WebStore, powerful e-commerce software, customers can build, manage and promote an online store from anywhere in the world, using only a computer, an Internet connection and a browser. Starting in July, Gateway Country(R) stores in 10 major markets across the U.S. will offer eBoot Camp, a hands-on workshop that gets businesses online and e-commerce enabled during a three-day course. "Enhancing a Web site with e-commerce capabilities can bring enormous market opportunity to small and medium businesses, but many companies shy away from it because of cost or technical complexity," said Chris Gibson, vice president of marketing, Gateway Business. "Gateway is here to demystify the technology and empower our customers with knowledge so they can harness the power of the Internet to enhance their business."

Easy-to-Use, WebStore Gets Businesses Online Quickly and Easily
Based on leading technology from Orbit Commerce, a leading eBusiness services platform provider, Gateway WebStore is the ideal solution for a small or medium business. Designed for the non-technical user, interactive wizards guide the user throughout the entire signup and site building process. Online help files and a customer support group provide additional guidance. An important consideration for growing businesses, additional capabilities can be added in just a few clicks of a mouse, allowing customers to enhance their site as their business grows.

Comprehensive Suite of Features Provide Customization and Flexibility
WebStore offers a comprehensive suite of features, including:

• Design templates that allow customers to control the look and feel of their site. These can be customized with HTML or JavaScript, allowing the user to create a more custom-designed site with the ease of a template-based system.
• An inventory control feature that monitors inventory levels and out-of-stock items, automatically notifying suppliers.
• A powerful catalog/database supports hundreds of products or services; shoppers can locate products by name, description or preferred price range while an online tool allows potential customers to schedule appointments for service-related offerings.
• Online order notification that allows businesses to check on incoming orders regularly. An integrated tracking tool allows the business and their customers to track packages in real-time from the Web sites' homepage.
• An online payment service that provides a secure, seamless and affordable way for businesses to process orders and collect payment. Businesses can accept payments in a variety of ways, including all major credit cards, purchase orders, electronic funds transfer and "offline" payments, such as checks, money orders and escrow services.
• A promotion feature that allows businesses to highlight special items, encourage first-time buyers, cross- or up-sell and encourage multiple orders.
• A reporting tool that allows customers to generate a variety of custom reports to help customers better understand and ultimately improve their eBusiness efforts.

eBoot Camp Gets Customers' Businesses E-Enabled Quickly and Easily
Gateway's new eBoot Camp, held at Gateway Country stores in 10 major markets across the U.S., is a hands-on workshop that helps businesses get their shop online and e-commerce enabled during the classroom instruction. eBoot Camp covers the basics of online business processes, such as site design, online catalog creation, order processing, online credit card payment processing, billing and product shipment as well as online marketing. Participants will develop their Web site and learn the skills required to build a more complex e-commerce enabled site. Customers can choose from two classes, depending on their business needs:

eBoot Camp Website
This one-day instructor-led class gets businesses online quickly. Participants will build a five-page Web site, possess the know-how to manage and maintain their site, and understand how to promote their site by registering with search engines. The course is $249.

eBoot Camp WebStore
This three-day instructor-led class is designed for businesses who want to build an e-commerce enabled site. The course covers site design, development and hosting as offered in the one-day eBoot Camp Website class, but builds on this by adding e-commerce functionality. Participants' will enhance their Web sites with a 10-page catalog, shopping cart and inventory control features. Participants will also learn how to set up a merchant account, process and manage orders, edit tax and shipping calculations as well as reporting and store management basics. The course includes Web site hosting in a data center for one year, with 24 x 7 support. This course is $499.

Free eBusiness Seminar at Gateway Country stores Demystifies e-commerce
Before attending the workshops, business customers can attend a free clinic that explains the value of having a Web site, the benefits of e-commerce, Internet marketing, sample sites and site creation options. For customers who want the benefits of e-commerce but don't have the time to design or manage a Web site, they can have Gateway design and manage their site for them, under Gateway's Custom Design Site program.

Pricing and Availability
Affordably priced with plans starting as low as $19.95 per month, the Gateway WebStore package is available immediately nationwide. Customers can order the software by calling, clicking or coming into a Gateway Country Store. Beginning in July, e-Boot Camp courses will be available at selected stores in the following Country Store locations: Boston, Phoenix, San Francisco, Miami, Minneapolis, Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas. Customers can register by calling Gateway's e-Services Team at 1-800-371-1525. For more information on both offerings, call 1-800-371-1525 or visit the company's web site at www.gateway.com/ebusiness.

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SOURCE Gateway, Inc.