Zengine Grows E-Commerce Efforts for Innovative Flower Retailer KaBloom
Zengine’s Technology Allows Kabloom to Expand National Sales While Improving Customer Service
Berkeley, Calif. and Woburn, Mass., July 9, 2001 – Zengine, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGN), an outsourced e-commerce software provider, today announced it has launched an enhanced online store for Boston-based floral retailer KaBloom Ltd (http://www.kabloom.com). The improved store, powered by Zengine’s E-Commerce Platform, is designed to enhance shopping experiences for KaBloom’s client base.
As a provider of high-quality, affordable, direct-from-the-grower fresh-cut flowers, KaBloom has grown quickly and enjoyed great customer relationships as a brick-and-mortar retailer with 33 retail stores in the New England area.
Established in 1998 by co-founders Thomas Stemberg, Chairman and CEO of Staples, Inc., and David Hartstein, co-founder of Super Office, Inc., KaBloom carries hundreds of different cut flowers and potted plants, nearly 10 times the product carried by traditional brick-and-mortar floral shops. KaBloom focuses on providing customers with the products that are appropriate for both gifts and everyday purchases. Their stores provide a very convenient shopping experience for customers, something that the company wanted to translate to its Web site. In developing its e-commerce efforts, KaBloom wanted to leverage its extensive offline floral experience, product selection, and customer database. KaBloom turned to Zengine to help accomplish this with the current goal of expanding sales and customer relationships to a national level.
“It is important to us to increase our sales potential outside of the New England area without losing the devotion to customer service that we’ve established in our brick-and-mortar stores,” said David Hartstein, president and CEO of KaBloom. “In order to do that, we needed a company that would create a highly-interactive experience that met our customers’ needs. Of all the companies we examined, Zengine’s technology was by far the best. Their expertise and services are the perfect catalyst to help our business grow.”
KaBloom has employed Zengine’s extensive customer service representative (CSR) toolset, which enables every KaBloom CSR to view specific customer details, order and caller history. Each CSR is able to view a customer’s shopping cart, and during the course of a phone call, assist that customer by making real-time modifications to that shopping cart, if needed. In addition, all KaBloom CSRs are now able to place orders directly into the same data center as online orders from customers.
“The ability to interact with customers is crucial to the success of any e-commerce endeavor, and Zengine provides companies like KaBloom with complete solutions for the development of long-lasting relationships,” said Joe Savarino, president and CEO of Zengine. “We’re extremely excited to be able to help KaBloom make the transition from a fast-growing regional brick-and-mortar operation to a successful, national floral e-tailer.”
About KaBloom:
Established in 1998 by co-founders Thomas Stemberg, Chairman and CEO of Staples, Inc., and David Hartstein, co-founder of Super Office, Inc., KaBloom is modeled after the European flower market where flowers are considered a part of everyday life. With 33 locations in Boston, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, KaBloom has become the fastest growing flower retailer on the East Coast. Retail locations are bright, airy places that make flower selection comfortable, easy and fun. KaBloom emotes casual elegance, where flowers can and should be enjoyed every day. KaBloom’s flowers and plants come direct from the growers, which means the quality is higher, the flowers are fresher, and the prices unbeatable. Consumers can purchase flowers at any of the retail locations, through 1-800-kabloom and, of course, through www.kabloom.com where flowers can be delivered anywhere in the U.S.
About Zengine
Zengine, Inc. is an outsourced e-commerce software provider. Zengine helps companies sell more efficiently. Zengine’s e-commerce platform makes it easy for companies to sell their products online while remaining focused on what they know best, their core business. This platform ensures that the right information gets to the right people at the right time so that individuals are empowered to make smarter business decisions.
Zengine`s e-commerce platform provides a standardized, modular framework that can be customized quickly and easily to scale, add functionality, and provide seamless software upgrades to meet the specific requirements of its individual clients.
Industry leaders utilizing Zengine’s software and services to increase online sales include Gentner Communications, Gyration, InFocus, KaBloom, MCSi, NER Data Products, rexstores.com, Sharp, and Universal Studios in the United States and Digital Garage and I-CF in Japan. For more information, call (800) 811-0486, e-mail info@zengine.com, or visit www.zengine.com (which is not part of this release).
The matters disclosed in this press release which are not historical facts, contain forward-looking information with respect to the plans, projections or future performance of Zengine, Inc., the occurrence of which involve risks and uncertainties which include, but are not limited to, general economic conditions, e-commerce industry trends, lengthy sales cycles, possible performance delays, Zengine`s dependence upon its affiliate, MCSi, Inc., Zengine`s ability to retain its employees and manage its growth, functionality of its computer hardware and software, Zengine`s intellectual property rights and their protection, the control exercised by MCSi over Zengine`s affairs, and other factors which are described in Zengine`s Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2000 and the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2001. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Furthermore, Zengine, Inc. does not intend (and is not obligated) to update publicly any forward-looking statement.
The Zengine name, KORE, KOG, KIT and certain other taglines, titles and logos of our products and other products and services mentioned in this press release are either our trademarks or service marks or trademarks or service marks that have been licensed to Zengine or are owned by others. Each trademark, trade name, or service mark of any other company appearing in this press release belongs to its holder.
Contacts:
Darrell Perkins
Zengine, Inc.
510.665.6388
dperkins@zengine.com
Marty Kozar
KaBloom, Ltd.
781.460.2000
info@kabloom.com
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