Glasslinks.com

Glass Industry E-Commerce / Internet News 

September , 2000 

speedeclaim.com SEC Filing Offers Insight
into B2B Start Up Corporation
The following are excerpts from the Prospectus for Common Stock offering as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in September, 2000.

PROSPECTUS SUMMARY

We have developed a comprehensive business-to-business software application that will provide the auto glass industry with seamless insurance claim, parts order processing and instant video-claims approval via the Internet. Currently, we offer a fully integrated e-commerce claims processing and management software that reduces the average cost to process an auto glass insurance claim by as much as 65%.

Our software incorporates all the functionality required to successfully conduct e-commerce on the Internet from the subscriber's browser. Initially, we hope to be able to provide our system to over 1,600 auto glass retail and wholesale stores through a proposed joint venture agreement with the Independent Glass Association (the "IGA") and its buying consortium AmeriGlass Inc.

We are currently negotiating with the IGA to sign a letter of intent for a joint venture agreement whereby we will provide our system to over 1,600 IGA independent retail glass stores. The IGA will provide us with their industry expertise and specific functional requirements for our software as well as introductions to various insurance companies. We expect to provide our system to the IGA members free of charge and we will absorb the development costs specific to the IGA's functional requirements. We anticipate the letter of intent will be complete before August 30, 2000 with the development of our system completed before the end of year 2000.

Approximately eleven million windshields are replaced each year in the United States alone, at a cost of over $4.8 billion per year and insurance companies pay a $15 to $50 processing fee per claim to network call centers. The auto glass industry and the associated auto glass insurers have all expressed a need for an online claims processing system that is significantly more cost effective than the existing system.

Speedeclaim was incorporated under the laws of the State of Nevada on March 14, 2000. Our offices are located at 1066 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, B.C.,Canada V6E 2X3.

RISK FACTORS

We are a recently organized company and have no significant operating history or operating revenues. In order to be successful, we must contract with insurance claim companies to generate transaction fees, attract a significant number of users to the website and database delivered through our website and generate significant e-commerce revenues.

We have a short operating history upon which you can judge our prospects.

We are a recently organized company and have no significant operating history or operating revenues. In order to be successful, we must contract with insurance claim companies to generate transaction fees, attract a significant number of users to the website and database delivered through our website and generate significant e-commerce revenues.

Specifically, as an early stage entity in the rapidly evolving market for Internet services, we will face numerous risks and uncertainties…

The market for Internet business-to-business commerce software and services is relatively new, intensely competitive, quickly evolving and subject to rapid technological change. We expect competition will increase in the future.

Our competitors include: in-house custom solutions built by a national glass chain's information technology group; and products and components offered by companies such as GTS, IBS, Quest, PPG Lynx and Mitchell.

If we do not partner with the IGA, our chances for success will be severely diminished.

Our business model is dependent on acceptance and the use of our system by auto glass retail and wholesale stores and the insurance companies. We are currently in the process of negotiating an agreement with the IGA to implement our system. If we are unsuccessful in achieving such a partnership, it will be difficult for us to obtain subscribers for our system.

Each glass vendor must have Internet access.

Our business model assumes that the retail glass vendor has access to the Internet. Notwithstanding the fact that we will provide free access to the system, the system only works if the user has a computer and video capability. We do not intend to give away the computer hardware necessary to use the system.

DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS

Incorporated on March 14, 2000, we are a development stage corporation. We are in the process of developing a comprehensive business to business software application that will provide the auto glass industry with seamless insurance claim, parts order processing and instant video-claims approval via the Internet. Currently, we offer a fully integrated e-commerce claims processing and management software that reduces the average cost to process an auto glass
insurance claim by as much as 65%.

Our software incorporates all the functionality required to successfully conduct e-commerce on the Internet from the subscriber's browser. Initially, we hope to be able to provide our system to over 1600 auto glass retail and wholesale stores through a proposed joint venture agreement with the IGA and its buying consortium AmeriGlass Inc.

Approximately eleven million windshields are replaced each year in the United States alone, at a cost of over $4.8 billion per year and insurance companies pay a $15 to $50 processing fee per claim to network call centers. The auto glass industry and the associated auto glass insurers have all expressed a need for an online claims processing system that is significantly more cost effective than the existing system.

We have developed a revolutionary Internet based software and database application that addresses the certain problems inherent in the property and casualty industry.

Our system utilizes the latest Internet communications technology and online claims processing databases and is the first user-pay auto glass claims processing and management software to offer instant, online claims processing and parts ordering, including live video, directly from the auto glass retail store for instant claims approval by the insurance companies. Our network is accessible wherever the Internet is available, there's no download required because it runs from an Internet browser. (Microsoft(R) Internet Explorer or Netscape(R)). Each glass vendor will have equal access to the entire glass replacement market, creating a greater ability for independents to compete with the large networks.

Unlike current point of sale and parts directory software that only provide invoicing and reporting features, we provide each area of the industry with a single, comprehensive Internet application located at our head office. Our system links the insurance companies to the IGA's AmeriGlass industry buying consortium, provides "live" video and data services and provides e-commerce claims processing using our secure network. Our software is based on `distributed client server principles' providing the auto glass retail and wholesale stores with free access to the industry's only dynamic, online comprehensive auto glass and parts database and claims processing system.

Prices, products and availability can be accessed in minutes via a single, online database. We believe that our system provides reliable, simultaneous access for 15,000 auto glass retail and wholesale stores (users) and additional users can be added with the integration of additional interfaces.

Secure Online Payment

We employ proprietary, secure, online payment and credit card processing as well as comprehensive online customer service, thereby providing a safe and effective way for retail stores to complete online payment and claims processing transactions. We will participate in transaction fees from claims processing and the sale of all glass product originating through our network.

To replace a windshield under our model a simple process for both the auto glass retail store and the insurance company is followed.

  • 1. The consumer drives directly to his preferred (or nearest) auto glass store.
  • 2. The auto glass store uses speedeclaim.com to provide the insurance company with live video approval of the glass insurance claim.
  • 3. The retail store replaces the glass and processes the insurance claim using the speedeclaim.com system.
  • 4. The insurance company pays the company $7 for processing the claim and reimburses the retail store via a wire transfer with in 48 hours.

Through a proposed joint venture agreement with the IGA (currently being negotiated) over 1,600 independent auto glass retail stores will have the capability to use the speedeclaim.com system within our first year of operations. Through the power of leading edge technology such as Internet search engine listings and viral marketing, in conjunction with a comprehensive media campaign including, e-trade and printed trade journals, we will aggressively
target every potential business-to-business auto glass retail and wholesale store possible.

Our system will generate revenues based on the following revenue streams:

  • Transaction fees from each claim processed of $7.00 per transaction paid by the insurance company.
  • Transaction fees of 1% of each glass order, to a maximum of $2.00 per transaction, through the AmeriGlass consortium.
  • Credit card processing fees of 1.0% of each transaction though the CyberSource Corporation merchant services.
  • Web advertising revenues.
  • Web hosting fees from auto glass store web sites.

Our initial target market is the U.S. auto glass retail and wholesale stores as well as the auto glass insurance companies. We will provide the auto glass stores with free access to our system and each insurance company will pay us $7.00 to process each claim.

Industry Overview

The Internet is a rapidly growing global computer network for collecting and exchanging information, communicating, and conducting business. The growth of this computer network is driven by inexpensive web access, inexpensive website production costs, and businesses wishing to capitalize on the potential revenues which may result from effective advertising.

The property and casualty insurance industry is experiencing runaway claims processing and litigation costs. Industry research indicates that the property and casualty insurance industry spends over $70 billion annually on inefficient claims processing techniques of which $6 billion is related to auto glass claims. The Federation of Insurance and Corporate Counsel has determined that Internet technology has matured to the point where `it is time to determine and establish ways and means of adopting and leveraging Internet standards and technologies to address directly the problems of claims processing, litigation inefficiencies and runaway costs'.

Frederick Jennings, (Harvard economist) recently identified this problem as a result of "the networks developing their programs based on a faulty economic model of market power and not efficiency". In the IGA January/February 2000 newsletter, IGA President Donovan Trana also stated "Over the past 8-plus years, administrative costs have risen dramatically in all phases of the glass handling process. These costs have eroded the glass dealer's profit while increasing complexity and decreasing efficiency. The panacea of a streamlined glass-claims handling system has actually evolved into a bloated, confusing, inefficient and costly system. The insurance companies are not truly saving any money, and there hasn't been a profitable network developed yet"!

At the present time the independent glass stores have no option but to purchase costly point of sales software applications from dominant industry suppliers. And as a result their market share and profits continue to decrease as they compete against large networks and "claim steering" tactics.

As an example, to replace a windshield under the current auto glass industry model, a cumbersome process for both the auto glass retail store and the insurance company must be followed.

  • 1. The consumer must first contact his insurance agent to notify them of his need to replace his windshield.
  • 2. The agent then passes the consumer to a call center.
  • 3. The consumer completes a telephone insurance claim form and is directed to an auto glass retail store by the call center.
  • 4. The auto glass store schedules the consumer and checks available glass inventory using a monopolized parts system that every auto glass wholesaler and manufacture must use.
  • 5. The consumer pays the deductible amount (to the retail store) and his windshield is replaced.
  • 6. The retail store incurs all expenses required to replace the windshield.
  • 7. The retail store completes the insurance claim form and either faxes or mails it to a designated call center for processing.
  • 8. The call center processes the insurance claim for a $15 - $50 processing fee paid by the insurance company.
  • 9. The insurance company mails payment to the retail store.

The consumer's windshield is replaced in a few days from the date he first contacted his insurance agent. However the insurance company may not reimburse the retail store for as much 90 days after the windshield was replaced. This is due to the inherent inefficiencies of using call centers to process over $6 billion in auto glass insurance claims per year with a paper trail that involves at least 4 different parties before the retail store gets paid.

Our target market is the auto glass wholesale and retail store and the associated auto glass insurers that want to process insurance claims effortlessly, at significantly reduced rates and with immediate payment. Approximately 11 million windshields are replaced each year in the United States alone, at a cost of over $4.8 billion per year, however, our system is capable of servicing the worldwide insurance glass claims processing requirements.

We have identified a specific market on which to concentrate its sales activities. The short-term plan is to provide our system to the members of the IGA free of charge across North America. The IGA currently has 1,600 independent glass store members, and with the introduction of our system as the IGA's online billing and buying group system of choice, the goal is to increase membership to 2,500 during the next two years.

For these businesses, our system is expected to provide the only turn-key solution for real time claims processing and parts ordering via the Internet.

Our target market will also include the auto glass wholesale level of multi-tiered sales organizations. These organizations will be able to energize their wholesale level sales by getting online and providing more complete product information, delivered more effectively and less expensively, to their internal and external customers. An extensive public relations campaign, conducted by one of the world's largest public relations organizations and
controlled by our in-house experts, will manage this assignment.

Employing our business-to-business system will allow these stores to process claims and purchase product with greater ease and efficiency and enable them to achieve a broader cost reduction. And our management tools will make there store much more effective. Most of these businesses already know that the Internet can provide up-to-the-minute product cost and availability to information from supplier channels while providing marketing information to their customers.

Every business has a product that current supplier channels fail to promote properly or whose reach is limited by the current distribution network. With our system, the Internet will be the primary medium by which these businesses will be able to grow their revenue base and lower their sales and customer service costs.

If the glass product can be purchased online, over the telephone or through a catalog (if the product is too complicated for telephone sales), we hope to be able to provide the answer.

We hope to strengthen customer loyalty because online interaction can actually result in closer ties to a business' customers, based on a deeper understanding of their needs and a potential for greater frequency of contact. We hope to provide faster time-to-market and allows a quicker response time to market changes.

The Internet supply channel is entirely in the control of the purchasing company and it can literally be changed as rapidly and as dramatically as needed and in real-time. And because the channel is a virtual one, all of these applications can be implemented without having to re-train personnel.

Business-to-Business Overview

By the end of 1999, Cisco Systems reported $1 billion per year in on-line orders. Similarly, PC Warehouse is generating $3 million in sales per day from its Website. And Dell Computer reports $1 million in sales per day.

Business-to-business commerce is thriving on the Internet. The successes are real and the returns are measurable. Companies are reinventing relationships with their customers and making it easier for customers to do business by reducing the cost of doing business via their existing channels. Their field sales people, channel partners and large account customers can make inquiries and post orders, filling an important need in a company's supply chain
management strategy. We will use uses the Internet to make more complete product information available to an infinitely broader audience.

Manufacturers will use the web to compete directly with their existing bricks-and-mortar distribution channels.

Distribution companies with large inventories can use speedeclaim.com to present a depth of product not practical in paper-based catalogs. These companies
realize that intranet/extranet based commerce is a good first step to full retail e-commerce whenever they, and their customers, are ready. Large wholesalers can use speedeclaim.com to offer online ordering to their business accounts, reducing costs while increasing service levels and building customer loyalty.

The Internet has made room for an entirely new class of business-to-business product sales. Virtual companies are springing up to service their new customer types whose primary commonality is their connection to the web. Traditional notions of "business-to-business trading channel" are being dramatically revised by new ways of identifying and targeting customers based on their associations,
affiliations, interests, buying habits and demographics.

The most obvious characteristic of a virtual store is its lack of a physical presence in the industry it serves (its lack of bricks and mortar). The revolutionary aspects are the ability to reach target customers anywhere, such as the auto glass retail store as well as the insurance companies, and to identify those customers based on characteristics that a business is specifically set up to serve.

We are ideally positioned to service the auto glass insurance industry. Wholesale businesses will typically offer a large depth of product and speedeclaim.com technology was designed, from the ground up, eliminating the wholesaler's need for additional computer systems and information technology departments by out-sourcing their technology needs to us.

Our objective is to become one of the Internet's leading Internet applications supplier for the auto glass industry in the following areas:

  • Claims processing;
  • Parts ordering;
  • Real time (live) claims approval; and
  • Online dynamic auto glass parts identification and pricing database.

We hope to utilize the marketing channels of our proposed joint venture partner, the IGA to ensure that our system is in the majority of auto glass retail stores across North America within the next 5 years. The arrangement with our joint venture partner calls for a share of revenues generated from claims processing and part ordering whereby we will pay the IGA $1.00 for every transaction. Additionally, we will utilize web-crawler technology to update the online glass database to create the single largest database of it's kind available online

Since its inception, the founders have spent approximately 2 years in product development, defined in its operational and marketing requirements and completed the third-stage product development. The founders also established operational databases which demonstrate all of the major features and benefits of our system. The executive staff was also hired during this period and a joint venture agreement was entered into with the IGA.

source: speedeclaim.com, Inc. SEC SB2 Form Filing