Virtual Nations is an Internet only marketing company that specialises in the sale of products that have a unique "national" flavour. Through its sites with the "Shop-in" brand Virtual Nations will enable Customers throughout the world to purchase products from the home country or from countries which they a particular interest in.

Virtual Nations will launch its initial web presence in February 2003 with "Shop-in" sites for Scotland, Belgium and Holland. Following this then further sites will be launch over the next 3 years to give Virtual Nations a "Shop-in" brand covering 18 European countries. In parallel with this British and European portal sites will be developed giving the "Shop-in" brand a major web presence.

The "Shop-in" brand will become synonomous with provision of quality unique nationally identifiable products. Virtual Nations will support this with expert Customer Service.

Virtual Nations is always pleased to hear from small manufacturers and retailers who are able to provide such products. Where the product range offered matches that of the specific "Shop-in" site then Virtual Nations will seek to form partnerships with retailers and manufacturers so that they can become suppliers to our Customers.

The expertise of Virtual Nations is in the design and promotion of web based e-commerce services and Customer Service. It is in this area that we focus our activities.

Once you decide to become a Partner then you provide us with details of the products that will be added to the shops. There are a number of criteria that must be satisfied for products to be suitable for inclusion. These criteria include suitability for dispatch by post and suitability for purpose, for example. Products will be added to a shop within the relevant "Shop-in" site.

When visitors to the site make the purchase decision Virtual Nations systems will take the order on-line, clear the payment electronically and deliver a payment verified order to our clearing system. Details of the order will then be processed and sent to the Partner whose product has been ordered, who will then dispatch the orders directly to the Customer. The Partner will have defined a "dispatched within" period when the products were added to the site as this may vary depending upon the size of the business. Virtual Nations will deal directly with the Customer regarding support matters that may arise from the sale.

Having dispatched the goods to the Customer then the Partner will add the goods to an invoice destined for Virtual Nations. Each Partner will invoice Virtual Nations every month and payment will be made by Virtual Nations within 10 days.

Inherent within the Partnership Agreement the Partner agrees to abide by the Privacy and Returns policies that Virtual Nations have in place. Neither of these are onerous and are imposed not only as a legal requirement but also as a basis for good Customer Relationship Management.

From time to time Virtual Nations will ask Partners to participate in promotions. For example we may wish to combine products from a number of complimentary suppliers into a new promotional product. This, coupled with special promotions and offers to Customers will further stimulate the level of business a Partner will receive.

An important part of establishing products on the "Shop-in" sites will be the pricing strategy. Obviously, Virtual Nations will include an additional margin to the products supplied by a Partner to form the Customer price and this price will need to be realistic. The cost to Virtual Nations of the products supplied will be agreed at the time of inclusion and this should reflect the economies of scale resulting from the Partnership. Pricing may be varied by the Partner, as dictated by supplies.

Becoming a Partner

A partnership with Virtual Nations will provide you with additional outlets and a huge Customer base for your products. A partnership is simple to establish and administer. Once a partnership exists it will continue until the Supplier or Virtual Nations wishes to terminate the arrangement.

To become a partner with Virtual Nations there a a few short steps to follow.

1. Virtual Nations will provide you with a Supplier agreement form. This form provides both parties with contact details and acceptance of the terms and conditions applicable to the agreement. Terms and conditions are attached to this document.

2. Provide details of the specific products that will be promoted by Virtual Nations. Details such as descriptions and pricing information are included.

3. Having completed the forms then return them to Virtual Nations.

4. Wait for the first order’s to arrive.

The benefits to partners can be widespread and have a major impact on their business. Here are the primary benefits a Partner can gain.

The price and popularity of individual products will have a large variation. Some of the products on the "Shop-in" sites will be very popular while others will be less attractive to Customers or be required by a more specialised audience. For this reason projections on individual products are difficult to define specifically.

Having said that based on the business projections and other widely publicised statistics approximate values can be defined. Virtual Nations estimate that the most popular products will have revenue of between £1000 and £2000 in the remainder of 2003. This will rise to between £2200 and £4500 during 2004.

A Partner with 10 products on a Virtual Nations site will no doubt have some popular and not so popular products within this portfolio. Based on this assumption our revenue estimate for a 10 product supplier will be in the order of £6000 for the year 2003 and £12000 for the year 2004. Beyond 2004 these figures will continue to rise at the same rate for several years before reaching a plateau. These are mid-range not topend estimates. Based on an initial outlay of £0 (zero) the this represents an excellent return for Partners.

These figures can not be guaranteed but Virtual Nations will work with each partner to maximise product exposure, develop product pairings and offer special deals to Customers to maximise this revenue.

The Virtual Nations concept is the brainchild of Bob Duncan who has been refining the principle over the last year. Bob has recently been joined by Alistair Ferguson who will be developing the concept to a working business with Bob.

Bob and Alistair both have a number of Internet and e-commerce business developments on their CV’s and both have extensive experience of International business development particularly in the European arena.

The complementary experience and skill that this team has is able to deliver many years of Internet development experience to Virtual Nations.

Working with Bob and Alistair are web developers, marketing experts and administrative staff who make up the Virtual Nations team.

There are a number of frequently asked questions that potential partners are asked. Here are the answers.

No problem. You can terminate your agreement to supply at any time by giving 10 days notice. This notice period allows us to clear outstanding orders and remove products from the sites.

Again with 10 days notice this can be done at any time. Product additions will be subject to Virtual Nations approval, as with all products.

Price variations can be implemented at any time on 10 days notice. Where prices are increased Virtual Nations may consider the cost to the Customer is becoming too high and may remove the product from the site.

Returns will come from 2 sources. Consumer legislation allows on-line shoppers to change their mind within 7 days of receipt and return goods subject to goods and packaging being intact. Under these circumstances Virtual Nations will refund the supplier and Customer for cost of carriage.

The Customer may also return goods that are faulty or not fit for purpose and request a replacement or refund. Under these circumstances the supplier will be responsible for additional carriage costs. In both cases Virtual Nations will refund the cost of goods to the supplier.

If an order is taken for items out of stock then we will refer back to Customer. They will be given the option to back-order based a new despatch time or to cancel the order.

No. Any orders for out of stock will be treated above. Stock levels can vary so dramatically that this exercise would be restrictive.

It is not our intention to have product duplication on the sites. Products of a similar nature may be sourced from different suppliers but the same product will not be taken from a number of suppliers. It is possible that another supplier may offer us the same product at a better price. In this case we would advise you of the situation and give you the option of reducing the price or removing products from the site.

You may already have a web-site and may even be offering on-line ordering. You are probably the ideal partner for Virtual Nations. You will be aware of the benefits the Internet can bring and how it can benefit your business. There is no reason you can not continue this and work with Virtual Nations. The routes that Customer will take to the individual sites will be different and can only help to generate even more business for you.

No problem. The Internet is our expertise. We will take care of the mechanics and technicalities of the Internet to leave you to concentrate on running your business. Understanding and use of the Internet is not essential or necessary for you.