Leading Retailers Rely on BroadVision Retail Commerce to Power Holiday Promotions
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.-December 10, 2001 – BroadVision, Inc. (Nasdaq: BVSN), the leading provider of enterprise self-service applications, provides the software that powers hundreds of online stores for leading retailers worldwide. These retailers use BroadVision Retail Commerce because it offers the personalized e-marketing, e-selling and e-service capabilities they require to build and sustain a successful web presence.
In anticipation of the holiday season, a number of BroadVision-powered retailers have made enhancements to their sites, improving usability and providing a better experience for their customers. A report from analyst firm Gartner, Inc. recently reported that online retailers could boost holiday sales by up to $10 billion by improving usability. The firm also forecast that Internet retail sales for the fourth quarter of 2001 will total $25.3 billion, exceeding Q4 2000 sales by 39 percent*. Circuit City, RedEnvelope, Road Runner Sports and Shop At Home are just a few of the retailers who are using BroadVision to improve the holiday shopping experience.
Circuit City
Leading consumer electronics retailer Circuit City recently migrated its BroadVision-powered site (www.circuitcity.com) to the 6.0 version of BroadVision Retail Commerce to provide a faster experience for its customers.
Migrating to the latest version of BroadVision Retail Commerce has enabled us to serve more simultaneous users without having to make costly investments in new hardware. BroadVision promised us a smooth transition and they truly delivered on that promise, said Dennis Bowman, senior vice president and chief information officer of Circuit City. We were able to switch from the previous version of the site to the new one without taking circuitcity.com offline and without losing a single transaction.
Taking advantage of BroadVisions personalization features allows Circuit City to provide one of the most innovative online shopping experiences. The sites unique Express Pickup feature lets shoppers purchase items online and take delivery immediately at a conveniently located Circuit City store. The site makes it easy for shoppers to locate their closest retail stores and shows real-time availability for any item. Shoppers can also easily compare features, pricing and customer ratings for similar products.
Circuit City offers a worry free gift return policy that allows holiday purchases to be returned through January 31st, 2002. The close integration of Circuit Citys online store with its backend inventory system allows shoppers to exchange or return online purchases at any Circuit City store.
RedEnvelope
Online and mail order specialty gift retailer RedEnvelope (www.redenvelope.com) takes a multi-channel approach, using BroadVision software to power the online, self-service portion of its business. RedEnvelope specializes in helping shoppers select the perfect gift, using BroadVision One-To-One personalization features to offer individual service to registered users. A Gift Reminder service helps shoppers remember gift-giving occasions. RedEnvelope Gift Alerts are more than just a reminder service each reminder comes with gift suggestions appropriate for the individual recipient and occasion. RedEnvelope also supports multiple ship-to addresses and a recipient list, which remembers past recipient names and vital statistics.
The redenvelope.com site is tightly integrated with RedEnvelopes call center and print catalog. Shoppers can review their order histories and track orders online whether the order was placed online or over the phone. Similarly, RedEnvelopes call center staff has access to the same customer view. The quickorder feature lets online shoppers quickly order any catalog item by number, without having to search the site.
Although RedEnvelope has always concentrated on a multi-channel approach to retailing, the web is our most cost-effective channel for customer transactions and customer service, said Christopher Cunningham, CIO and acting COO for RedEnvelope. The general stability, robustness and scalability of BroadVision Retail Commerce have been a great asset to RedEnvelope. As our business has grown, the software has scaled well to handle increased demand.
RedEnvelope is perfect for last minute shopping, allowing customers to order as late as midnight Eastern time on Friday, December 21st for pre-Christmas delivery via FedEx, UPS or Airborne Express.
Road Runner Sports
Road Runner Sports, Inc. is the nations number one retailer of running shoes, apparel and accessories on the web. The company reaches more than 4 million customers per year through its catalog, BroadVision-powered website (www.roadrunnersports.com) and retail store. As part of its holiday sales effort, Road Runner Sports is taking advantage of BroadVisions merchandizing and personalization features to improve the customer experience during this holiday season. The site features a new gift idea promotion area that rotates among 15 different products, prominently displayed on the sites home page. In keeping with their running theme, Road Runner has also added a Holiday Countdown timer that lets visitors know just how many seconds are left until Christmas.
In addition to these changes, Road Runner is using BroadVision for a variety of targeted promotions and incentives, powered by BroadVision One-To-One personalization technology. A new Send a Hint feature allows visitors to find items they would like as holiday gifts and then send a hint to their loved ones. The site generates an email with a picture of the item, a personalized message that can include exact size and a link to purchase the item. People who receive hints from the site will also be offered free shipping on any order. Road Runner is also using email marketing, offering a variety of incentives and coupons to help visitors with their holiday shopping. Special email offers include various discounts, free shipping and discounted express shipping for last minute shoppers. In addition, the site is offering weekend specials for each weekend in December.
In developing our online sales channel, our goal has been to provide the same level of expert advice and personal service that Road Runner Sports offers through our call center and retail store, said Kate Budd, Director Brand & Internet Marketing for Road Runner Sports. BroadVision software has helped us meet that goal. BroadVision also gives us the power to market to individual users and easily create new incentives and merchandizing programs.
Road Runner Sports allows visitors to develop a sophisticated user profile that includes information on an individuals running style and training schedule. This information is then used to help shoppers select the ideal gear for their needs. These personalized profiles are also used for promotions. For example, the site alerts shoppers from outside of California that they do not have to pay sales tax on Road Runner Sports purchases.
Shop At Home
Just in time for the holidays, Shop At Home, Inc., the second oldest television shopping network, has added new features to its BroadVision-powered online store (www.shopathometv.com) designed to make shopping quicker and more convenient. The new features include a redesigned checkout process that gives registered shoppers the ability to select an item, add it to their cart and complete the purchase with a single click.
Shop At Homes multi-channel approach to retailing combines the power of its television shopping channel, which reaches 73 million US homes, with the 24-hour availability of the shopathometv.com web site. The site is tightly integrated with Shop At Homes inventory and call center systems. During the holiday season, Shop At Home is engaging in a variety of combined television and online promotions. The networks holiday and gift-giving themed shows have online counterparts that make it easy for visitors to find items featured on television. In addition to the product categories usually featured on the site, Shop At Home has created a variety of holiday gift collections grouped by price point and intended recipient such as Gifts Under $50 and Gifts for Kids. Shop At Homes Gift of the Day promotion, features free shipping on a different item each day, which can be ordered via phone or online.
Shop At Home has also added enhanced personalization features such as multiple ship-to addresses, address books, order history and order tracking to speed the ordering process and enhance post-sales service.
BroadVision Retail Commerce is a key part of our strategy to converge our television network and online presence, said Bob Miller, vice president of information technology for Shop At Home, Inc. BroadVision has proven to be an exceptionally stable and high-performance platform for shopathometv.com. The software allows us to provide an exceptional shopping experience that increases customer loyalty and encourages repeat business.
About BroadVision
BroadVision`s (Nasdaq: BVSN, Neuer Markt: BDN) enterprise self-service applications create immediate business value by transforming the way organizations do business – moving relationships to a personalized, self-service model that enhances growth, reduces costs and improves productivity. Leading global companies use BroadVision to power their enterprise self-service initiatives – using the web and wireless devices to unify and extend an enterprise`s applications, information and business processes to serve its employees, partners and customers in a personalized and collaborative way.
For more information about BroadVision, Inc., call 650.261.5100, email [email protected] or visit www.broadvision.com.
* Gartner FirstTake, Better Web Usability Can Boost Web Holiday Sales By $10 Billion, J. Wecksell, Novermber 2001.
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