Gateway forms SME e-marketplace

SAN DIEGO & LAS VEGAS - Gateway Inc. today announced a strategic alliance with PurchasePro, an enabler of business-to-business e-commerce for companies of all sizes, that will allow small- and medium-sized businesses to leverage the Internet to improve business efficiencies.

Together, the companies will develop three global marketplaces that allow clients to buy and sell products and services online.

The companies will also launch a worldwide customer trading initiative, which will include an education program for small-and medium-sized business members on the use of electronic marketplaces.

"Upon full deployment of our global training program, PurchasePro and Gateway expect to train more than 1,400 businesses per week, resulting in more than 70,000 companies per year," said Dale Boeth, senior vice president of channel development for PurchasePro. "Educating our end users about the use of e-commerce solutions allows us to differentiate our company and its products from others in the business-to-business e-commerce industry."

PurchasePro will power Gateway marketplaces for Gateway's small-and medium-sized clients in the United States, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific regions.

The first Gateway eMarketplace is operational and will be officially launched by mid-November, allowing Gateway clients to interact with PurchasePro's 30,000 businesses and 200 private-labeled marketplaces to sell their products online.

In addition, Gateway clients will be able to access the global marketplace through an icon that will be featured on Gateway PCs designed for small- and medium-sized business. Through an embedded demo located on their computer, end users can instantly become members of the Gateway marketplace powered by PurchasePro.