How technology buys fit into Bluefly’s long-term approach to selling
Bluefly Inc.’s investments in advanced technologies announced this week (internetreatiler.com, 4/3) represent the next phase in the development of a long-term strategy to change the way consumers buy designer fashions at discount prices, says Ken Seiff, Bluefly CEO. “We are focused on becoming the first retailer in the world to offer designer products at discount prices with world-class service and convenience,” he says. “Customarily, when you buy designer brands at discount, you have to go digging through bins or go through thousands of items on racks. We have spent three years building a web site that eliminates that need. We are raising the shopping experience for off-price apparel to a new level.”
Bluefly bought Blue Martini Software Inc.’s Customer Engine to power its web site and Equilibrium Technologies Inc.’s MediaRich Image Server to manage its product presentation. The Blue Martini product will allow Bluefly to analyze customer data better so as to improve site features and make more relevant offerings to shoppers, Seiff says. Bluefly plans a complete re-make of its site based on Customer Engine. It will be live in the third quarter.
The Equilibrium technology will allow customers to zoom in on products for closer inspection. “Our apparel presentation has been relatively static,” Seiff says. “We decide which elements are more important to the customer. This will put the control in the customers’ hands."
Seiff says the new site will not look radically different from the old, but it will offer many new features. “It will be like taking an old car and putting in a turbo engine, air bags and a surround-sound system,” he says. “You don’t have to explain to the driver what the car was and why it’s better now. Drivers will still be able to drive it, but they’ll know it’s a better car. We want customers to have that same comfortable feeling when they get into the driver’s seat.”
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