PSINet joins commercial trend

Posted by Webhost - 09/10/96 at 01:10 am

PSINet (PSIX) today is offering an e-commerce service for businesses to sell
their products on the Net through PSIWeb, its Web hosting service.

PSINet, an Internet service provider targeted at businesses, joins the scramble
of Net access companies adding back-end electronic services. Yesterday AT&T (T)
unveiled similar services for would-be Web merchants. Even FedEx announced a
software bundling deal today to let companies use the Net for selling
merchandise (see related story).

These kinds of announcements can expected to become increasingly common as ISPs
face a declining price spiral for their Net access services. As more players
jump into the ISP pen, most feel obligated to at least match the going rate of
$19.95 per month, and some may even start undercutting it. Since many ISPs
already find it hard to stay profitable at that price level, those who can
afford to will branch out into e-commerce to provide a new potential revenue
stream.

Web hosting services like PSIWeb, in particular, can be expected to add more
back-end services because they already have the bulk of the hardware required
for processing e-commerce transactions.

PSIWeb eCommerce creates, integrates, and manages virtual storefronts for
merchants who want to conduct commerce on the Internet without investing
heavily in hardware and communications. Merchants control content and
administration of their storefront.

The service integrates the secure payment system of CyberCash to process credit
card transactions and SoftCart virtual store technology from Mercantec.

The CyberCash payment system includes an electronic “wallet” for consumers, an
electronic “cash register” for merchants, and a gateway service connected to
existing bank networks for handling transactions.

SoftCart allows developers to create a complete shopping environment that so
that they can browse online and pay for purchases using secure payment methods
such as CyberCash. SoftCart tracks purchases, creates invoices, calculates
shipping and sales tax, and delivers completed orders directly to accounting
systems.

The complete PSIWeb eCommerce service includes Web hosting services and costs
$295 per month, below AT&T’s $395 to $595 per month pricing. The PSIWeb
eCommerce payment-only service with CyberCash costs $195 per month.

William Schrader, PSINet’s chairman, president, and CEO, said that “1997 will
be considered the year that ‘eCom’ came of age, taking over where EDI
(electronic data interchange) left off, and solving the security, privacy, and
intellectual property issues which have been debated for the first part of the
decade.”

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