Tesco Taps Endeca and The Javelin Group For Better Holiday Shopping Online
LONDON and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., November 8, 2004 -- Endeca, the leading provider of advanced search and Guided NavigationSM solutions, and the Javelin Group, the UK`s leading retail consultancy, today announced that Tesco has selected Endeca InFront® to power search, navigation and merchandising across Tesco.com. The next-generation solution, which was jointly configured and deployed by the Javelin Group and Tesco`s IT team, is now live on all of Tesco.com`s non-food sections and is designed to provide online shoppers with first-of-their-kind tools to quickly and easily find their favorite products. The retail-focused solution also gives Tesco the unprecedented ability to create highly targeted, contextual promotions triggered by a shopper’s unique search query and navigation path. Tesco.com debuted the advanced functionality this month in preparation for the 2004 holiday shopping rush.
Online shopping has numerous benefits over the in-store experience, namely convenience, choice and simplicity. But for all its advantages, its drawbacks include the lack of knowledgeable store clerks and service representatives to help guide customers through the shopping experience. It also presents new tactical hurdles for seasoned merchandising managers, who have developed best practices for in-store displays and optimal product placements to capitalize on impulse buys, and up-sell and cross-sell promotions.
"Designing a compelling, merchandising-driven online store that meets the diverse needs of each and every customer is a formidable challenge for both IT and business teams," said Jim Baum, president and COO of Endeca. "Endeca and the Javelin Group, working closely with Tesco, have created an intuitive search, navigation and merchandising solution that quickly connects shoppers with the right products while empowering both IT and business teams to meet key sales targets."
Shoppers can now take advantage of the new search and Guided Navigation solution -- a discovery technology that leverages characteristics of products to dynamically group results and present valid refinement and exploration options -- to shop and research purchases by what matters most to them. For example, a search for "Lord of the Rings" returns 120 matching products and helps the shopper narrow that list by offering specific filtering options like CDs, DVDs, VHS, and games. By clicking the DVD option, the results are narrowed to 16 matches, and the shopper is presented with new options to refine further, like genre, boxsets, language and certificate rating.
"Javelin Group`s e-retail technology expertise enabled a rapid and effective deployment of the Endeca solution with much improved user experience," said Tony Stockil of the Javelin Group. Javelin Group has worked with Tesco for the last two years, advising on business and technology solutions for Tesco.com.
Endeca InFront is the market-leading commerce search, navigation and merchandising solution. Used on more than 125 of the most demanding and successful e-commerce stores, including 1-800-Flowers.com, Barnes & Noble, Circuit City, CompUSA, the Home Shopping Network, IBM.com, Overstock.com, and Walgreens, Endeca Search and Guided Navigation consistently increase conversion rates and average order size. In 2004 alone, more than 30 of the world`s leading retailers have deployed Endeca InFront in preparation for the upcoming holiday shopping season.
About Tesco
Tesco is the number one retailer in the UK with 780 stores. Worldwide, Tesco has over 1,000 stores in 10 countries across central Europe, south east Asia and Ireland.
About The Javelin Group
Javelin Group is one of the UKs leading specialist retail consultancies with skills across retail strategy, operations, and technology. Its client list includes many of the best retailers in their field such as B&Q, Debenhams, John Lewis, Poundland, Tesco, USC, Homebase, Screwfix Direct and others. Javelin Group has 5 centres of excellence: Retail Strategy, Merchandise Productivity, Retail Technology, Multi-Channel Retail, Retail and Shopping Centre Locations. Core skills within its multi-channel retail practice include proposition development, fulfilment improvement and e-commerce site design and build. As an Endeca partner it advises clients on improving the customer experience online and provides a complete technology integration service to Endeca clients.
About Endeca
Endeca`s award-winning Search and Guided Navigation solutions help organizations to integrate, discover, and navigate data to solve business problems associated with information overload. Endeca`s customers include a wide range of enterprises including retailers (Barnes & Noble, CompUSA, 1-800-Flowers, and BMG Music); finance (Putnam Investments, MFS Investments, and Quick & Reilly); business-to-business (IBM, Arrow Electronics and CDW); content delivery (World Book and IHS) and government (NASA and the Library of Congress). Endeca is a private company headquartered in Cambridge, MA. More info: www.endeca.com or email us at info@endeca.com.
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