EasyAsk Introduces Commerce Advisor to Provide Unified Access to Products, Services and Information Resources with Precision Search and Dynamic Navigation
Bass Pro Shops and Overstock.com Use EasyAsk Commerce Advisor to Enhance Online Shopping Experience and Customer Service with Intuitive Access to Product Catalog and Online Information Resources
LITTLETON, MASS. – September 24, 2003 – EasyAsk, a market leader in information access software, and the only provider of Synchronized Search and Navigation™, today announced EasyAsk Commerce Advisor™, a component of its new EasyAsk Enterprise 9 platform (see press release dated 9/22/03) designed specifically for the needs of business-to-business (b2b) and business-to-consumer (b2c) commerce web sites featuring products, services and related content. Built on the EasyAsk Enterprise 9 platform, EasyAsk Commerce Advisor provides intuitive information access to content regardless of format or location, with tightly integrated search, navigation, merchandising and analytic capabilities.
Bass Pro Shops® Reeling In Online Customers
With EasyAsk Commerce Advisor, e-tailers like Bass Pro Shops, the world’s leading supplier of premium outdoor gear, can provide online customers with the same satisfying customer experience and support that they would enjoy in a physical store location or through a Bass Pro Shops call center. By enabling access to both structured and unstructured content, EasyAsk Commerce Advisor allows shoppers at www.basspro.com to easily find products, which are cataloged in a database, as well as helpful product-related information in the form of outdoor articles, hunting and fishing tips, destination guides and other informational content. Commerce Advisor uses automated concept extraction to meaningfully interpret user queries (understanding the subtle but distinct differences between smallmouth bass and largemouth bass fishing) and return precise matches or responses, regardless of the source and format of the matching item.
For example, a customer new to flyfishing might visit basspro.com to purchase equipment and tackle. Upon entering a natural-language query for a “flyfishing rod under $150,” the customer would receive precise search results displaying only rods matching his criteria and navigation options, such as brand or price ranges, to help him pinpoint exactly what he’s looking for. With EasyAsk Commerce Advisor, the customer would also be offered links to relevant articles from basspro.com on selecting the right rod and reel, finding flyfishing hot spots or tying the most effective flies. This wealth of targeted information ensures that customers will have the knowledge they need to make informed purchasing decisions on their own.
By connecting Bass Pro Shops customers to its online resource center, Bass Pro Shops now has the technical latitude to serve customers with valuable insight and knowledge about the products they are researching. EasyAsk Commerce Advisor effectively expands search into customer service, and its ability to search both product catalogs and unstructured information is key to helping Bass Pro Shops deliver a higher quality of customer service and an authentic community feel.
Another early implementer of EasyAsk Commerce Advisor is Overstock.com®, a leading Internet retailer with two popular online shopping destinations: www.overstock.com, a consumer-focused Internet liquidation site, and www.worldstock.com, a socially responsible store promoting the work of artisans worldwide.
“Beyond enhancing the online shopping experience, EasyAsk Commerce Advisor facilitates a faster sales process,” said Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com. “The more quickly customers can find items matching their interests, the faster they proceed to checkout and the less likely they are to abandon their shopping carts. Commerce Advisor directly impacts the bottom line.”
“With EasyAsk Commerce Advisor, we added capabilities and features in anticipation of the direction in which retail is heading,” stated Bob Alperin, president and CEO of EasyAsk. “Online retailers are finding that potential customers will often abandon searches to find additional information on a product that they may be interested in. A savvy retailer will remedy that problem by transparently linking products with supplementary information, as Bass Pro Shops has done by implementing our innovative solution.”
Maximizing the Multi-Channel Experience
EasyAsk Commerce Advisor maximizes multiple sales channel by ensuring that consumers, in-store staff, and call center personnel share a common view into product and service offerings, thus facilitating the right selections, clear communication and accelerated transactions. EasyAsk’s solution is used in call centers for LAMPS PLUS, Lands’ End and other leading e-tailers to ensure customer service representatives can manage inquiries efficiently and knowledgeably. LAMPS PLUS, the nation`s largest specialty lighting company, has also incorporated EasyAsk into in-store kiosks at all of its 44 stores, providing salespeople and customers alike with an invaluable resource for finding exactly the right items. As a result, LAMPS PLUS has experienced an increase in both store and Internet sales, as well as a more loyal customer base.
About EasyAsk
EasyAsk is a leading provider of intuitive and precise information access solutions that empower enterprise users to quickly find and retrieve critical business information. Powered by a unique linguistic capability, EasyAsk’s Synchronized Search and Navigation platform accesses both structured and unstructured data, intelligently interpreting users’ queries to find accurate and complete results with unprecedented efficiency. Leading retail, financial services and business-to-business companies such as Lands’ End, Siemens Medical Systems (SMS) and GlaxoSmithKline use EasyAsk’s technology. Over 100 companies have acquired EasyAsk’s core technology. EasyAsk partners include IBM and SAIC. Leading investors include Sigma Partners and Flagship Ventures. EasyAsk is headquartered outside of Boston with sales and support offices throughout the U.S., and internationally in England and Belgium. For more information, please visit our website at www.easyask.com or contact us at 1-800-425-8200.
Contact:
Akemi Tinder
781-455-8250
akemi.tinder@rfbinder.com
Overstock.com is a trademark of Overstock.com, Inc.
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