The first virtual mall in the world to sell goods in dollars, pounds, euros and more besides from merchants anywhere in the world has been launched in Sussex.

Seaford-based Retailer2000 is the first shopping portal to provide a point of sale for companies to trade their wares in multiple currencies from one place on the web.

Operations manager Nick Wakefield said: "Other online shopping tools will only support merchants from one country using one currency because varied international commerce require-ments are a headache to code together.

"Our site uses a system we have developed for more than three years to overcome these difficulties.

He said: "Customers will find the different shops have a similar look and feel about them but clients can develop their own style and have a web address they can advertise to draw people directly to their store.

"The sheer complexity involved in developing a model able to juggle all these different variables is, we believe, the reason far bigger companies have been discouraged from doing this before us.

"We can even accommodate goods tax issues for companies in the USA and Canada where a single product-type can have a variety of tax rates across several states.

"The site can accommodate businesses of any size but it is particularly useful for smaller enterprises which would find buying a bespoke e-commerce facility prohibitively expensive.

"Firms which already operate a mail-order service or have a specialist market audience will also benefit from the comparative flexibility of this online presence."

The portal has been targeted at small to medium-sized firms and already has five firms renting virtual shops.

The technological backbone of the site has been created by Retailer2000 managing director Neil Smith.

Neil developed a system which identifies the geographical location of the customer and the base location of the company they are purchasing from online and then applies the regulations which attach to the deal.

The site also tracks details such as whether the merchant is a UK VAT-registered trader, the weight of different packages ordered and the delivery distances to be travelled.

A comprehensive price, in the currency of the customer's choice, including all transaction charges and regional taxes, is presented before a purchase is confirmed.

The site is driven by a vast database at Docklands, close to the UK switch, the point of entry for all telephone and internet communications to the UK.

This location allows Retailer2000 to maximise the performance-power available and helps to prevent the system slowing to a halt at peak times.

Worldcom Direct, a computer components sales company in Seaford, has rented a patch in the virtual store.

Director Gordon Read said: "We have worldwide sales and we need to be able to do transactions in different currencies to operate.

"On normal sites of this kind we can only deal with one currency whereas now there's no limit to the number of currencies we can use.

"Also the number of products allowed online with many shopping packages is often limited to 50 or 100 and we wanted to put our full range of 1,000 products up for sale on the web site, which we have now been able to do."

Companies joining Retailer2000 use a shop-builder application to tailor their section of the site to list products and display corporate imagery.

Prices start at £50 a month for a shop stocking 50 products. Merchants can stock as many goods as they choose on a sliding scale of fees negotiable with Retailer2000.

Details of discounts for clients paying six to 12 months' subs-criptions in advance are available on the web site.

www.retailer2000.com