1. Reprinted from Star Tribune, Monday, December 7, 2009
By TODD NELSON,
Special to the Star Tribune
Strong online sales reported over the Black
Friday-to-Cyber Monday weekend may
prompt some companies to consider taking
the e-commerce plunge.
But although selling online direct to con-
sumers could provide a quick sales boost,
for many companies it also risks alienating
distributors and retailers typically cut out
of such transactions. That’s why just 15
percent of the 800,000-plus U.S. manufac-
turers who could be offering their products
to consumers through their own websites
actually are doing so today, according to
James Moar, CEO of St. Louis Park-based
Reshare Commerce.
Reshare, Moar says, can help raise that per-
centage -- and increase sales -- by helping
brands and their manufacturers resolve so-
called “channel conflicts’’ often inherent in
online sales.
Moar said Reshare’s patented software can
drive e-commerce growth because it en-
ables brands selling online to share a por-
tion of that revenue with distributors and
retailers. Online sales over the Thanksgiv-
ing holiday weekend saw double-digit in-
creases from the year before, while sales at
brick and mortar stores were up only 0.5
percent, Moar noted, citing a Star Tribune
report from last week.
“It must be frustrating for a retailer to see
flat in-store sales, and brands increasing
sales via the Internet,” Moar said. “We
solve the major problem preventing you
from selling direct to your customers via
the Internet by turning channel conflict into
channel collaboration.”
Buyers making purchases on websites that
incorporate Reshare’s software choose a
preferred local retailer where they other-
wise would have bought the product, Moar
said. Depending on the product, the web-
site then might offer local options for in-
stallation, service contracts or accessories.
The process can work in-store, too, Moar
said, with stores getting compensated as
the preferred local retailer when they order
models they don’t normally stock from the
manufacturer’s website.
Glenn Stubbe • gstubbe@startribune.com
Reshare CEO James Moar is rebooting the company and has taken actions to get the
company moving. One of those actions is an attempt to raise $2 million from investors.
Helping to smooth ‘channel conflicts’
Reshare software works to resolve problems inherent when manufacturers go online
to sell directly to their customers, bypassing their distributor and retailer networks.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2009 • STAR TRIBUNE • BUSINESS • D3

2. Reprinted from Star Tribune, Monday, December 7, 2009
Reshare, which has six employees and
projected 2009 revenue of “well under”
$1 million, has the potential to grow rap-
idly. Moar projected revenue of $2 million
next year and up to $100 million by 2015
if the business model catches on. The large
revenue gains are possible, Moar says, be-
cause, like credit card companies, Reshare
charges a small up-front licensing fee and
receives a small percentage of each trans-
action its software processes. And there are
tens of thousands of manufacturers who are
potential customers.
Ahead of its time
Reshare, meanwhile, has been busy ad-
dressing some internal issues that appear
to have hampered the company’s growth.
For one, founder Adam Southam launched
Reshare “substantially before its time” in
1999, Moar said. That’s back when many
of us still used dial-up modems to go on-
line, and the emerging face of e-commerce
was the Pets.com sock-puppet pooch.
Manufacturers who are not mindful of po-
tential channel conflicts can face a backlash
if they start selling online directly to con-
sumers, said Jim Gabbert, former chairman
and CEO of Gabberts Furniture and Design
Studio, who was a Reshare board member
from 2002 until a few months ago.
“If you become a competitor with your dis-
tribution channel, all of a sudden the retail-
ers are saying, ‘I don’t need you to compete
with me. I’ll do a private label or go with
your competitor,’’’ Gabbert said.
The recession likely has more companies
thinking about going online now, Gabbert
said. And some are finally catching on to
how Reshare can help them.
“Southam is a visionary,” Gabbert said.
“He saw this opportunity long ago. Some-
times visionaries don’t see how far behind
other people’s thinking is.”
Perhaps because it was so far ahead of its
time, Reshare also has been chronically un-
dercapitalized. The company is out to fix
that and other problems and hoping to take
advantage of the explosive growth e-com-
merce has seen in recent years, Moar said.
To that end, Reshare “hit the restart button”
in mid-year. Actions taken so far include:
• Southam “firing” himself and hiring vet-
eran executive Moar as CEO in Septem-
ber. Southam remains as the company’s
chief strategic officer. Moar brings ex-
tensive sales channel experience, after
spending 25 years in the Twin Cities
with four companies with revenue rang-
ing from less than $100 million to more
than $400 million. He recently hired a
new vice president of business develop-
ment, David Basic.
• Filing a patent infringement lawsuit
against six defendants -- five brands and
one competitor. “We believe that various
parties are using our solution without
our authorization,” Moar said. “Since
the patented solution is the foundation
of the company, you have to defend and
protect the patent.” Reshare hopes the
suit will result in payment for past use
and an injunction that prohibits future
use in the absence of a licensing agree-
ment.
• Launching an effort to raise $2 million
from investors.
• Ramping up an aggressive push-pull
marketing campaign. The aim is to in-
crease manufacturers’ awareness of Re-
share, while also building partnerships
with e-commerce firms who could help
sell Reshare to manufacturers.
• Recruiting new board members with
experience in running startups, raising
money, retail and e-commerce.
Black Friday debut
Allvus, a Las Vegas-based start-up, began
working with Reshare two years ago to
avoid potential channel conflict as its pre-
pared to introduce shears and other prod-
ucts to the beauty industry, president Kurt
Garehime said.
Allvus, which markets its products under
the brand of stylist Sam Villa, wanted to in-
corporate e-commerce and off-line distrib-
utors in its business model, Garehime said.
Reshare made its debut on the Sam Villa
website on Black Friday, recording more
than 100 sales, Garehime said.
RESHARE COMMERCE
Business: E-commerce software and consulting company markets patented chan-
nel management software that enables manufacturers and brand owners to sell online
directly without circumventing sales channel partners such as distributors and retailers
Founded: 1999
Headquarters: St. Louis Park
Website: www.reshare.com
Employees: six
Executives: James Moar, CEO; Adam Southam, founder and chief strategic officer;
David Basic, vice president of business development; Kevin Kruse, chief information
officer
2009 projected revenue: “Well under” $1 million
Strategy: Pursue patent infringement lawsuit, raise $2 million from investors, ramp up
push-pull marketing plan to raise brand awareness among manufacturers while devel-
oping partnerships with e-commerce firms to help sell Reshare software.
Reshare helps manufacturers like Sam Villa
sell directly to consumers and still provide a
percentage of the sale to the local distributors.
<< SOMETIMES VISION-
ARIES DON’T SEE HOW
FAR BEHIND OTHER
PEOPLE’S THINKING IS. >>
Jim Gabbert, commenting on Reshare concept

3. Reprinted from Star Tribune, Monday, December 7, 2009
“It’s encouraging to see that it did not stop the selling process,”
Garehime said. “This is the ideal, perfect solution. It helped us to
sell our way into a very established (off-line) network.”
The expert says: Avinash Malshe, assistant professor of market-
ing at the University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business,
said channel conflict has long been a dominant supply-chain issue.
Reshare’s proposed solution, in which manufacturers would share
some of their online revenue to avoid alienating distributors and
retailers, appears to be a novel approach and an interesting busi-
ness proposition. For such revenue-sharing to make sense, Malshe
said, manufacturers would need to see a substantial increase in on-
line sales.
“This goes to the heart of where does the power in the channel lie,
is the manufacturer more powerful? Or [is it] the distributor and
the retailer?” Malshe said.
“It’s a trade-off. Basically you’re guarding yourself against any
potential backlash. This may only be appealing to certain kinds
of industries or product categories where there’s an opportunity to
substantially increase sales by setting up an online channel.”
Todd Nelson is a freelance writer in Woodbury. His e-mail address
is todd_nelson@mac.com.