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Copyright © 1998 Tech TECHWAVE ANNOUNCES TWO MAJOR ACQUISITIONS: SHOPNOW INC. AND THE HAGGIN GROUP Major Shopping Portal and Leading Direct Marketing Company Complement TechWave's Suite of E-Commerce Technology and Services SEATTLE, Wash., November 9, 1998- TechWave Inc., a leading electronic commerce service provider, today announced the acquisition of two California based companies: ShopNow Inc., a comprehensive shopping portal and The Haggin Group, one of the country's top five direct marketing services companies. Terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed. Both acquisitions will enable TechWave to provide its thousands of merchant partners with a complete end-to-end e-commerce solution. TechWave will launch and operate two ShopNow™ brands: The ShopNow Market (www.shopnowmarket.com), a comprehensive shopping portal with more than 10,000 merchants, and ShopNow.com (www.shopnow.com), a ready-made direct marketing vehicle for cataloguers, product manufactures, traditional retailers, service companies, and much more. Both sites are powered by TechWave's CommerceTrust™ suite of e-commerce services that provide all back end operations, including transaction processing, order tracking and fulfillment, online sales reports, and complete customer service. TechWave also offers a variety of merchant services (i.e., traffic, custom stores, order tracking, etc.) to its merchant partners, enabling them to more effectively compete in the online arena. "As an online shopping aggregation company with strengths primarily in front end demand creation, we found TechWave's e-commerce platform to be a natural fit", said Oliver Kwon, former president and CEO of ShopNow Inc. and now an executive vice president of TechWave Inc. "The acquisition provides ShopNow™ with the operations base necessary to convert visitors into buyers and to build a successful electronic commerce brand." The Haggin Group is recognized as one of the top five direct marketing service companies in the United States. Representing a number of diverse clients, including Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, Zales, and Hallmark, The Haggin Group will provide TechWave with the ability to offer traditional catalogue clients a complete end-to-end electronic commerce solution. "Both ShopNow Inc., and The Haggin Group are strategic additions to our full range of e-commerce services," said Dwayne Walker, TechWave's chairman and chief executive officer. "These resources are instrumental in helping buyers find what they need as well as assisting merchants in establishing a secure and successful online presence. Both acquisitions support TechWave's promise of connecting millions of buyers to millions of sellers online." "As a direct marketer, I realized early on the enormous potential of the Internet as a superior vehicle for retailers, cataloguers, and manufacturers to market and distribute their products," said Jeff Haggin, former president and CEO of The Haggin Group and now executive vice president of TechWave. "Our firm's expertise in creating powerful direct marketing services will appeal to a new breed of companies looking for an affordable and effective e-commerce solution." About TechWave Established in 1994, TechWave Inc. (www.techwave.com) is a leading electronic commerce company dedicated to making e-commerce a reality for all businesses. Through its full suite of e-commerce solutions, TechWave helps customers and merchants safely and easily buy and sell merchandise online. With offices in Seattle Washington, Montreal Canada and San Francisco California, TechWave provides electronic commerce technology services to thousands of companies. About TechWave's CommerceTrust: ECommerceTrust, TechWave's comprehensive suite of electronic commerce technology and services, provides all back end operations for a complete e-commerce solution. CommerceTrust services include store creation, merchandise management, payment processing, order fulfillment and tracking, sales reports, and virtual call centers. Whether a merchant needs an entire turnkey solution or just wants to enhance an existing system, TechWave's CommerceTrust offers the necessary e-commerce tools. Contacts: Robert Nachbar, TechWave, (206) 223-1996, robertn@techwave.com Howard Barokas, Barokas Public Relations, (425) 319-7711, barokas@barokas.com

Copyright © 1998 TechWave Inc. All rights reserved.