NETSUITE(tm) API ENABLES COMPANIES TO CREATE E-COMMERCE APPLICATIONS
New Web Store Developer Toolkit Allows Static Web Sites to Instantly Become Database Driven E-commerce Sites
SAN MATEO, CA. - June 2, 2003 - NetLedger, Inc., [MP1]makers of Oracle(r)
Small Business Suite, today announced that NetSuite, the most widely used
on-line mid-market business management application, offers a new Web platform
for building e-commerce applications. The new NetSuite application programming
interface, called the Web Store Developer Kit (WSDK), provides companies
with an easy way to convert static Web sites into dynamic database-driven
e-commerce sites that are tightly integrated with their front- and back-office
operations. Thus far, more than 100 companies have implemented the new
WSDK standard. Several of these integrated web sites can be seen at http://www.netledger.com/portal/webstores_1.jsp.
The Oracle Small Business Suite name is used under license from Oracle
Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL).
Turning a static Web site into an e-business destination -- where products
and prices are dynamically updated, each customer is charged their own
price level and displayed their own content, inventory is tracked in real-time,
orders are taken on a secure shopping cart with fraud protection, multiple
warehouses are instantly notified for fulfillment, and customers can track
their orders and support tickets -- has been a daunting challenge for even
the largest companies. It requires tying together a Web site with separate
on-site systems for inventory, invoicing, shipping, customer service, contact
management and document publishing. An e-commerce capable Web site can
easily cost more than $100,000 to create.
The new NetSuite WSDK eliminates this problem, allowing customers to have
a full e-commerce application for as little as $400 [BG2]a month. More
importantly, what users get is not a low-end Web store, but the holy grail
of high-end Web sites - a reliable and scalable site personalized to the
visitor, offering robust functionality and seamless integration.
"I have been responsible for creating database driven e-commerce sites,
and only the largest companies can afford to build them," said Zach Nelson,
president and CEO of NetLedger. "The WSDK is a major break-through in allowing
companies of all sizes to treat their customers the way sites like Amazon.com
do."
More than one hundred companies have successfully implemented the NetSuite
WSDK to link NetSuite`s front- and back-office functionality to their sites,
automating their entire business operations. Here is what they are touting:
"Our manufacturing business had been running smoothly for years but the
sales arm of our company couldn`t take orders online," said Eric Forsberg,
vice president at Novak Conversions, Inc. (www.novak-adapt.com), a manufacturer
and dealer of custom Jeep(r) parts based in Logan, Utah. "We were skeptical
before we looked at the NetSuite Web Store Developer Kit because we were
neither database nor Web development experts. But we were at actual productive
work within an hour, and once the site was deployed, we saw the orders
coming in immediately. Credit card processing within NetSuite is seamless
to our operations. Since the tie-in is so direct, this information is all
generated automatically, dynamically and in real-time. Our site went from
garden variety to professional in less time than we had budgeted. With
an increasing number of our sales now flowing through the Web, it is absolutely
showing up on our top line. With the affordability of NetSuite`s system,
it also shows up on our bottom line."
"NetLedger`s Web Store is a powerful, integrated solution that allows us
to focus on our products and our business instead of our back-end infrastructure,"
said Richard Lee, president and CEO of Bluebeam Software (www.bluebeam.com),
in Pasadena, Calif. "We easily customized the Web Store to match the look
and feel of our site and to function seamlessly from site to store. We
have engineers on our staff who built and maintained e-commerce Web sites
with a team of 10 back in the 90`s. By comparison, Bluebeam has only one
person spending about 20 percent of their time managing our NetLedger Web
Store. This translates into a faster time to market, lower maintenance
costs, and a better customer experience."
"NetSuite provides us with so much integration and automation that we are
operating with half the staff of similar companies," said Tyler Smith,
partner of Niche Retail, LLC (www.nicheretail.com), based in Birmingham,
Mich., which operates specialty Web sites and is a leading online retailer
of jogging strollers, Britax Car Seats, Escort Radar Detectors and Aero
Beds. "Since 2001, we have been increasingly using NetSuite`s Web Store
Developer Kit to automate our eight consumer Web stores. The WSDK together
with other NetSuite features such as Return Authorizations and Cases are
saving us thousands of man-hours and providing a better online experience
for our customers. We continue to experience exponential growth (we have
four more stores scheduled for launch this year) and could not have done
it without NetSuite."
The Web Store Developer Kit was designed to integrate NetSuite`s existing
front- and back-office functionality into any Web site through an easy-to-implement
HTML script/query interface. With this NetSuite application programming
interface, customers are able to build customized Web sites that have full
e-commerce capabilities by linking their site to NetLedger Web Store`s
secure shopping cart and checkout technology. The scripts provide real-time
product, entity, and custom record data such as pricing, inventory, contacts
or payment terms. Editing the data in NetSuite`s user-friendly interface
dynamically updates the information displayed on the Web site. Providing
HTML scripts for insertion into an existing Web site, the Web Store Developer
Kit can convert any static Web site, hosted by anyone on any platform,
into a dynamic database-driven Web store that is completely integrated
with NetSuite. NetSuite will soon even offer dynamic Web hosting-enabling
existing sites to be transferred to NetSuite for enhanced performance,
greater scripting flexibility, and customer-specific content publishing-making
NetSuite the one-stop destination for all of a business` Web needs.
Advanced on-line CRM functionality includes automatic event-driven customer
communication, individualized customer portals, and a complete suite of
customer self-service features. The NetSuite system automatically sends
e-mails to customers when an order is placed or shipped, including tracking
numbers, methods of shipment. NetSuite offers the ability to embed on-line
lead forms in Web sites, allowing for automation of lead capture and routing
of new visitor information. NetSuite also allows customer support to be
delivered on-line, either by embedding trouble-ticket forms directly on
the Web site, which are then routed, or via publishing of a self-service
knowledge base that Web site visitors can use to answer their own questions.
In addition, NetSuite`s customer center can be tied to external Web sites,
allowing customers to view their order history, review their trouble tickets,
view estimates, pay invoices, or update their customer profile.
Secure Order Processing - WSDK gives access to a powerful shopping cart
within NetSuite, free of charge. This shopping cart streamlines customer
interactions with event-driven e-mail upon order shipment, fulfillment
and lead captured.[BG3] The checkout process includes secure credit card
processing -- including verification, authorization and payment -- with
two layers of credit card fraud protection. It also includes invoicing
with terms, customizable checkout and registration forms, and UPS Online(r)
Tools. The shopping cart can accept coupons with flexible expiration terms
that are tracked back to partners and marketing campaigns. The shopping
cart can also associate customers to their referring partner for tracking
commissions and ROI of marketing campaigns. And the shopping cart enhances
customer satisfaction by remembering repeat customers` addresses and optionally
credit card accounts, so data re-entry is not required.
Database-driven product and inventory management - The WSDK allows external
Web sites to leverage NetSuite`s advanced inventory management and shipping
capabilities to process orders in real-time. Via the WSDK, the NetSuite
product catalog can be leveraged to serve real-time pricing and inventory
data. Cross-sells and up-sells improve sales. Inventory control settings
permit disabling of back orders. Sales reduce available inventory in real-time.
Mass price updates enable all prices to be simultaneously increased or
decreased by a set percentage. Finally, customer-specific pricing for business-to-business
customers is available to completely personalize their shopping experience.
Delivered as online services, NetLedger`s products enable companies to
manage all key business processes in a single, integrated system. There
is no hardware to procure, no large, up-front license fee, no maintenance
fees associated with hardware or software, and no complex set-ups. Since
NetLedger`s first online application launch in 1999, the company has surpassed
the 7,000-customer milestone, making it the leading provider of integrated
online ERP/CRM application services for small and mid-sized businesses.
About NetLedger, Inc.
Founded in 1998, NetLedger, Inc. is a leading provider of ERP and CRM application software for small and mid-sized businesses. In addition to NetLedger(tm)
Advanced Accounting, NetCRM(tm), and NetSuite(tm), NetLedger`s products
also include Oracle Small Business Suite, which has won many prestigious
industry awards, such as the PC Magazine Editors` Choice Awards in 2001
and 2002; PC World Best Bets 2001; PC World 2001 World Class Award; Forbes.com`s
Best of the Web 2001 and 2002; and Upside Hot 100 2002. Recently NetLedger`s
NetSuite has won five stars out of five from PC Magazine. NetLedger also
provides enhanced, integrated solutions through its strategic partnerships
including Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO), Paytrust, and Innovative Merchant
Solutions. The company currently has more than 7,000 companies using its
products and the company`s investors include Larry Ellison, StarVest Partners
L.P., ADP and PaineWebber. For more information about NetLedger visit www.netledger.com.
Trademark
Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates.
Contact: Mei Li
NetLedger, Inc.
650-627-1063
meili@neteldger.com
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