Online Retailers Get Website Plug-in to Significantly Increase Sales by Allowing Consumers to Ask for a Better Deal

NEWTON, Mass., July 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Netotiate (pronounced 'ne-toh-shee-ate'), a direct consumer-to-retailer negotiation platform, announced today the launch of its plug-in that allows on-line shoppers to "netotiate" for products directly on retailers' websites.

For online retailers of any size, a consistent challenge is to engage visitors and convert them to sales, many reporting less than 2% visitors-to-sales conversion rates. The Netotiate plug-in helps retailers target and convert (to sales) visitors that would likely not purchase through the retailer's regular pricing model.   

"Our plug-in was designed not to cannibalize margins or sales that would have occurred anyway, but rather help retailers engage visitors before they leave to buy somewhere else, or not buy at all," said Amir Farhi, Netotiate's co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. "Even if a visitor to your site wants to buy a product from you, if your listed price isn't right for the visitor, many will simply leave and look for a better deal elsewhere. With our plug-in, retailers have a new way to compete and close more sales by taking steps towards engaging their customers," added Farhi. "Sometimes a few dollars off will do the trick to close a sale. Netotiation also helps circumvent Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) restrictions, a problem many retailers are struggling with."

Netotiate first launched in April 2012 with its netotiate.com marketplace and is now expanding its product offering with the Netotiate plug-in, allowing retailers to take advantage of this new engagement and sales-conversion approach directly on their sites.  With the Netotiate plug-in, retailers can encourage consumers to make a purchase during and after a visit to their site. Retailers control for which products and in which cases to enable netotiation, based on data such as the visitor's characteristics/behavior, number of visits to site, elapsed time on site, etc. Retailers can set up rules to automatically respond to consumers' offers based on various parameters. The entire netotiation process occurs within the retailer's site, including the checkout process of the netotiated deal.

Netotiate is rolling out its plug-in with multiple online retailers across various verticals. "Incorporating Netotiate's functionality into our site will help us convert more customers and keep the customer's interest live," said Vikas Chordia, Marketplace Manager of GoVacuum.com, that has enabled netotiation capabilities on many products on its site, including a $1,000,000 gold-plated vacuum cleaner. Another retailer, Jomashop.com (IR226), is also expecting great ROI: "The Netotiate plug-in gives Jomashop a competitive edge over other online watch retailers, by giving us a second chance at securing the sale for those customers that are seeking a better price or are not necessarily ready to pull the trigger.  It's bringing something similar to the Priceline bidding model to retail, and the potential is huge," said Charles Posen, Jomashop's Marketing Director.

For consumers, netotiation does not involve bidding against others, grouping with others, or looking for coupons and other discounts. Users simply submit a reduced price offer for the product to the retailer, which the Netotiate tool helps them do by indicating its probability of success. Users are only allowed to submit one anonymous offer per product to the retailer, which in return can either accept, decline, or counter the offer (with up to three different offers). In addition to reduced pricing, the retailer also has the flexibility to offer additional incentives such as a coupon for future purchases, free or upgraded shipping, additional accessories, or a further discount for the purchase of multiple items.  "Sometimes shoppers need some incentive to commit to a transaction. By providing customers with a 'set your own price' feature in a controlled environment, the Netotiate plug-in is a quick and easy solution for any retailers looking to gain that extra edge over the competition," said Elliot Moskow, CEO of Pricefalls.com, an online marketplace that is also adding the Netotiate plug-in to its e-commerce arsenal.

The Netotiate plug-in is offered as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Interested retailers can visit http://merchant.netotiate.com/info/become-a-merchant or contact [email protected] for additional information and to request a demo.

About Netotiate:

Patent-pending Netotiate is a unique consumer-to-retailer online negotiation platform that allows consumers to "netotiate" with retailers in order to secure better deals on products. The solution provides multiple benefits to both consumers and retailers. Backed by venture capital, the company is headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts, with R&D offices in Tel-Aviv, Israel. For more information, visit http://www.netotiate.com/company/about.

SOURCE Netotiate