IBM and Sellpoints Tap the Power of Watson to Help Manufacturers Transform the Ecommerce Industry

EMERYVILLE, Calif. and ARMONK, N.Y., Oct. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Sellpoints, online selling experts, and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that leading online retailers are tapping the power of Watson to transform how online shoppers search for and discover relevant products.

The world of online shopping is a complex one, and many retailers leverage product selectors to guide shoppers to the right products.  Product selectors are proven to increase conversion rates by 350%, however conversion rates significantly decrease with each incremental click a consumer must make before reaching the product page.  Between the first and second click in a product selector, consumers drop-off at a rate of 40% - the greater the number of steps, the greater the drop off. Fueled by IBM Watson technology via the cloud, Sellpoints will be able to minimize the number of clicks it takes a consumer to find a relevant product, therefore maximizing conversion rates and increasing sales for the client.

Sellpoints has developed "Natural Selection," a natural language product selector.  They have trained Watson to understand a shopper's intent, so instead of guiding shoppers through a series of complicated questions and checkboxes, Natural Selection allows them to type in phrases or questions in natural language.  The application then deduces intent to offer up relevant products.  Using the power of Watson's cognitive computing capabilities, Sellpoints developed Natural Selection so consumers can find relevant products in 2 simple clicks, eliminating nearly 60% of the clicks in traditional product selectors.

For example, a shopper can type in "four year old daughter needs help with reading" to Natural Selection and see immediate results.  A traditional product selector would require the shopper to check boxes for age, grade, gender, academic subject etc. before seeing a product recommendation. Natural Selection decreases the number of clicks-to-product page from six to two.

"Natural Selection is bringing the cognitive, natural language experience to the Ecommerce industry.  The application allows consumers to ask natural language questions about products and delivers relevant answers.  Watson is enabling the revolution around the way consumers ask questions and learn about products online."

-Brian O'Keefe, Sellpoints CEO

IBM also announced today accelerated adoption of Watson's cognitive capabilities globally. Today's news reinforces IBM's strategy to fuel an ecosystem of innovators who will help make cognitive the new standard of computing.

"IBM is receiving an outpouring of interest from partners in Watson's cognitive capabilities and supporting industry-changing use cases around the globe," said Stephen Gold, Vice President, IBM Watson Group. "We are thrilled to be working with some of the industries best and brightest entrepreneurs and established organizations."

Organizations that are interested in collaborating with IBM to develop Watson-powered applications can visit www.ibm.com/watsonecosystem to learn more.

IBM Watson: Pioneering a New Era of Computing
IBM Watson represents a new era of computing, in which apps and systems interact with human users more naturally, augment our knowledge with Big Data insights, and learn to improve how they assist us. 

Fueled by innovation from a mission to transform industries and professions, Watson is uniquely positioned at the forefront of the new era of computing, evidenced by an unmatched demonstration of what cognitive systems can bring to transform decision-making. IBM is delivering a range of cloud-based products and services to clients in industries such as banking, healthcare, insurance, retail and education. 

In January, 2014, IBM launched the IBM Watson Group, a new business unit dedicated to the development and commercialization of cloud-delivered cognitive advisors. The move signifies a strategic shift by IBM to accelerate into the marketplace a new class of software, services and apps that think, improve by learning, and discover insights from massive amounts of Big Data.

IBM is investing more than $1 billion into the Watson Group, focusing on research, development and bringing cloud-delivered cognitive applications and services to market. This includes $100 million earmarked for direct investment to support IBM's ecosystem of start-ups and businesses building cognitive apps made with Watson. Currently more than 3,300 organizations and entrepreneurial individuals have shared their ideas for creating cognitive apps that redefine how businesses and consumers make decisions.

For more information on IBM Watson, please visit: www.ibmwatson.com.

For more insights on this story and more, visit the IBM Watson press kit.

To join the social discussion about Watson, include the hashtag #ibmwatson. Follow Watson on Facebook and see Watson on YouTube and Flickr.

About Sellpoints

Sellpoints is an ecommerce technology provider dedicated to helping retailers and manufacturers sell more online.  They do this in three ways:

1)     They attract qualified shoppers to product pages using traditional traffic acquisition channels (SEO, PPC) as well as innovative, predictive advertising solutions.
2)     Once there, they engage shoppers with the most relevant, targeted rich media content, getting them to spend more time with products. 
3)     Lastly, they track every interaction and transaction, and apply these findings to acquire more qualified traffic and drive more engagement.

For more information about Sellpoints, visit www.sellpoints.com

SOURCE Sellpoints