KANA Holiday Survey Finds that Ineffective Self-Service Leads to Lost Revenue for Retailers
Consumers Frustrated by Ineffective Self-Service Solutions on Retail Sites Leads Them to Switch Web Sites
MENLO PARK, Calif. November 19, 2003 -- KANA (NASDAQ: KANA), a leading provider of knowledge powered CRM applications, today announced that it has completed its annual consumer holiday survey, which revealed that effective self-service is becoming even more critical to retailers. The survey clearly pointed out that customers would not hesitate to take their business to another Web retailer if they could not find answers to their questions quickly and easily online.
Earlier studies around customer behavior revealed that customers in many cases would elevate their inquiry to a more costly customer service option such as phone, but as self-service becomes more effective, the KANA study showed that customers are now more likely to turn to a different retailer, resulting in lost revenue.
With the holiday season being one of the busiest times of year for retailers, it is a necessity that online retailers provide their customers with the tools they need to make their online purchases and to provide answers regarding a range of pre-sales questions. Customers today are looking to utilize self-service applications because of the convenience factor they provide. With e-mail, FAQs, instant messaging and online search capabilities available for the online retail industry, the opportunities to keep consumers at one site are well within reach.
Some of the key findings in this survey were:
-- 65 percent of respondents said that they completed a significant amount of their holiday shopping online last year
-- 55 percent of those that responded said that they communicated with customer service through self-service applications most frequently
-- 50 percent said that if they could not find their answer online that they abandoned their search or went to a competitor`s site
"The worst-case scenario for any online retailer is to have a customer abandon its site," said Brian Kelly, executive vice president of product strategy at KANA. "The results of the study show effective self-service can help ensure customers do not leave the site and complete their transactions. KANA`s self-service applications ensure customers find the answers they seek directly on the Web site, ensuring organizations meet customer demands, at the lowest possible cost."
KANA`s CRM solutions address the needs of Global 2000 organizations in healthcare, telecommunications, financial services, high technology and other markets, giving businesses a competitive advantage and increasing their ability to service, market to and sell to their customers. Companies around the world benefit from KANA`s knowledge-powered approach to managing customer relationships, which combines sophisticated analytics with thin-client Web architecture to deliver extraordinary customer interactions that decrease costs and drive revenue.
About KANA
KANA (NASDAQ: KANA) provides knowledge-powered customer service applications enabling organizations to better service, market to, and understand their customers and partners. Optimized for specific vertical industries, KANA`s iCARE applications are in use at more than half of the world`s largest 100 companies. An award-winning, modular suite of eCRM applications available on J2EE and .Net, KANA iCARE applications enable customers to do business when, where and how they want, improving customer experiences while decreasing costs in contact centers and marketing departments. KANA`s partner-centric business model includes strategic relationships with the largest systems integrators in the world to support and sell KANA iCARE. For more information visit www.kana.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Information in this release regarding KANA`s forecasts, projections, expectations, beliefs, and intentions are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements include statements about KANA`s expected revenue, operating results, EBITDA, cash flows, long-term success, new business and market position. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based upon information available to KANA as of the date of this release, which may likely change, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statement. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results could differ materially from our current expectations. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: competition in our marketplace, including introductions of new products or services, or reductions in prices, by competitors; risks associated with lack of market acceptance of KANA`s products or services; inability to enhance and develop our products and services within budget and on schedule; inability to attract and retain qualified employees, to manage cash and expenditures or to expand sales; inability to manage our business in light of recent personnel reductions; KANA`s history of losses; the effect of potential military action and terrorist activities; and slow economic conditions, particularly as they affect spending by our prospective customers on eCRM and similar enterprise software products. These and other factors are risks associated with our business that may affect our operating results and are discussed in KANA`s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.
NOTE: KANA is a registered trademark, and KANA Software, KANA iCARE, KANA Contact Center, KANA IQ, KANA ResponseIQ, KANA Response, KANA Marketing, KANA iCARE Analytics and the KANA logo are trademarks of KANA Software, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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