UTbooks.com Unveils 'Razorblade'

UTbooks Formally Unveils ¡¥Razorblade¡¦

Dearborn Heights, Michigan ¡V April 25, 2000 9:30 am EST

In a move sure to shake up the college market, University Textbooks (http://www.utbooks.com) formally unveiled it¡¦s new redesigned and re-tooled site.

The site, internally dubbed ¡§Razorblade¡¨ had been under development for over 3 months, and is highlighted by some clever new features:

„h An overhauled and freshened user interface with better added functionality and ease-of-use, including a floating menu bar on the main start page as well as easy to use searchable ¡§vines¡¨ for locating links between pages
„h The addition of more new services such as bill payment, online tutoring, transportation, and a job search.
„h Prominent links to distance education and online learning for both students and professors.
„h Impressive links with entertainment sites including movies, music, and even an online downloadable karaoke machine!

Many of these features highlight the effort which UTbooks undertook after getting
ample feedback from customers and users. ¡§Our customers and visitors told us of some changes which they wanted to see on our site, and we started working on them immediately,¡¨ says CEO Mostansar Virk, 25. ¡§We take our customer wishes and concerns very seriously, they essentially drive our business¡¨ states COO Kashif Haque, 23.

The re-tooled site also highlights another aspect of the strategy which UTbooks is employing ¡V to further enhance the educational shopping experience for all students everywhere by constantly adding new products and services which should be relevant to students year-round, as opposed to the typical back-to-school rush. ¡§Through offering all of these additional products and services we hope to become a year round one-stop shop for college students whether they are in school or not,¡¨ announces Virk. ¡§We chose to innovate rather than vegetate,¡¨ adds Haque.

The announcement was also punctuated by the formal unveiling of a slew of new partnerships/strategic alliances some of which included:

„h A partnership with Tutor.com (http://www.tutor.com), a leading online learning community, in which students accessing the UTbooks website will be able to locate a tutor or even volunteer to become one online.

„h A strategic alliance with Calgary, Alberta based World Wide Learn (http://www.worldwidelearn.com), a leading site for distance education for students of all ages around the world.

„h A partnership with ShortTV (http://www.shorttv.com), a New York web-based film house dedicated to short films on the web. This partnership will enable students on the UTbooks website to open a second window on their browser and watch a short film and shop for their required school textbooks at the same time!

„h An affiliate relationship with online merchant Paytrust (http://www.paytrust.com), which will enable UTbooks customers and site visitors to sign up and pay for their gas, electric, phone, and other utility bills off of the web.

¡§We tried to reach out to partners who we thought would provide an excellent added service to students everywhere,¡¨ states Virk.

¡§Any site or service which could help to take out the drudgery and apathy which many students have told us they feel when typically purchasing their books on-campus, could help.¡¨ declares Haque. ¡§Moreover, these are just a small fraction of the advertising and distribution deals which we hope to consummate in the near future," he says. Future plans which UTbooks intends to pursue include offering students on-site travel services, health insurance, groceries, and clothing items.

About the Industry:

Recent figures show that America's college students represent more than $875 million in online purchasing power, according to research from Jupiter Communications. Also, 90 percent of college students say they are "active online users, with most having at least one credit card. Couple this with the fact that textbooks are "mandatory purchases" that require little or no comparison shopping, that the number of college students is only expected to grow in the coming years and all indications are that UTbooks.com is well positioned for explosive growth. "We plan to continue to add many more services and involve many other strategic business partners to better become ¡¥one-stop shop¡¦ for college student services." explains Virk.

With analysts from Jupiter Communication forecasting 10 million new online customers planning to spend an additional total of $6 billion online this holiday season, the online spending boom this season is expected to be decidedly brisk.
Moreover, Jupiter analysts further say that the $6 billion figure is "just a fraction of the future opportunity, as online shopping is expected to grow to $78 billion by 2003."

About UTbooks

UTbooks.com is a privately held, Michigan-based online college textbook e-tailer that was founded in July of 1999. It has been successfully serving the college market now for a little under a year. During that time, the traffic and sales have grown by 120% each quarter, with the January sales month alone setting a record, with over 2 million hits as well as over 40,000 unique visitors per week. UTbooks.com, though originally starting out as a college bookstore, is constantly striving to better refine and position itself so as to better serve all the needs of college students everywhere. To that end, Utbooks.com has already partnered up with over 60 name-brand content and service providers--ranging from online tutorials, shopping, name-brand auctions, classifieds, and much more.