Contact: Jana Muntsinger

615-376-9442

jana@mmpublicrelations.com

What is Parable Interactive?

A Fact Sheet

· Parable Interactive (PI) is the Internet arm of The Parable Group, and is a wholly separate business unit

· PI operates the highly successful Parable.com eCommerce solution.

· PI developed and maintains Private Label eStores for more than 160 locally owned Parable Christian Stores.

· PI provides state-of-the-art eCommerce solutions for more than 30 Christian ministries and non-profit organizations.

Brief History

There are more than 300 Parable Christian Stores across the U.S. and Canada. All are locally owned, operated and individually named. Parable Christian Stores share services such as marketing promotions, catalogs, flyers, in-store point-of-purchase, promotional kits, consumer research, and bulk mailing processing. Combined annual sales in 1999 exceeded $400-million dollars.

The Parable Group opened its first web-based store in November of 1996. At that time, customers sent an email to Parable requesting a product, Parable would fax the email to a local store and the store would call the customer to complete the transaction.

In January 2000, Parable introduced a new concept for local stores, called the Parable Private Label eStore Program. Using the Private Label Program, a local store could provide its customers a first-rate eCommerce connection, at a fraction of what it would cost to develop and maintain the site on its own. A customer shopping at the local store site would order electronically and receive the product from a central shipping location. The invoice, shipping label and return address all reflect the name and address of the local store. Locally owned bookstores have an eStore that can compete – head-to-head – with Internet giants like Amazon® and Barnes&Noble®.

The biggest difference between the Parable Private Label eStore Program and so-called “affiliate” programs offered by other Internet firms, is the fact that shoppers on a Private Label site are never sent off-site to complete their purchase. Customers who come to a local store’s web site to shop STAY on the local store’s web site.

eCommerce For Ministries

Parable made the Private Label Program available to Christian ministries and non-profit organizations in June of 2000 as a means of providing world-class on-line bookselling services at a fraction of the cost. Ministries who have opened a Private Label eStore can invest their time and resources in other areas while Parable comes along side to help them operate a successful on-line bookstore.

The Ministry version of a Parable Private Label eStore includes a secure donation collection mechanism providing ministry supporters a means of making a direct contribution each time they visit the Private Label web site.