Simplified Online Search Experience Drives Sales, Says Aberdeen Group

BURLINGTON, Mass., Nov 11, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Software programs such as those offered by EasyAsk, a leading e-commerce search and merchandising software company with offices in Massachusetts, Northern California and New Jersey, not only simplify shopping and internal analysis, they drive sales and encourage loyalty according to Aberdeen Group in a report released today.

The report emphasizes that the impetus for a more personalized search experience comes from the desire to rapidly respond to customer affinities, and the enhanced customer experience that results.

"The report essentially captures our value proposition," said EasyAsk CEO Craig Bassin. "We're in the business of creating the best online search experience for end users and helping our clients drive revenue. According to Aberdeen, that is a win-win for the industry and their customers."

Aberdeen cited three characteristics as key factors towards determining what makes online retailers "Best-in-Class" companies:

• Increased year-over-year order value of 20 per cent, compared to eight per cent for average companies
• Net profit margin of 15 per cent, about three times industry average
• Average online conversion rate of six percent, compared to a four per cent industry average

"Best-in-Class e-commerce retailers are turning to advanced online search for increased marketing and merchandising accuracy so that customers are able to locate the right product, at the right place and time," said Greg Belkin, a senior research fellow at Aberdeen. "In the highly competitive online retail market space, organizations know that consumers have high expectations when it comes to the time they invest in online product research."

Research is nice, but real-life results matter most, and that is where EasyAsk has delivered for its customers. Its natural language site search and merchandising software connects customer requests with online inventory to generate sales.

Coldwater Creek, which offers women's apparel, jewelry, gifts and home merchandise online, leverages EasyAsk's ability to improve their customers' shopping experience. This reinforces their philosophy of providing superior customer service in every selling channel. Their long-standing relationship with EasyAsk is part of why the company has been so successful.

"Online retailers are under constant pressure to build customer loyalty while at the same time reducing support costs," Bassin said. "Our job is to simplify that process for our clients and make sure their customers have easy and immediate access to what they want when they want it."

TruValue Hardware is another company that has entrusted its customers' online shopping experience to EasyAsk. Because of EasyAsk's superior linguistic processing and filtering capabilities, TruValue has eliminated null searches due to misspellings in queries or source databases. With EasyAsk, TruValue members offer real-time insight into product delivery, product backgrounds and, as needed, appropriate alternatives that meet customer needs.

"We are committed to providing the highest level of service to our members and their customers," said TruValue Director of E-Business Eric Lane. "Our order processing is a key point of contact with our customers and, as such, an important component of our service commitment."

According to Aberdeen, successful online retailers must address customer ease-of-use challenges and coordinate search and merchandising strategies to encourage cross-selling and increase up-selling opportunities. "With EasyAsk, those are fundamental steps that are easy to achieve.  We take the merchandising out of the hands of IT and place it where it belongs – with the merchandisers.  It's intuitive, interactive and immediate.  We don't call it EasyAsk for nothing!" Bassin noted. This has dramatic impact in the SMB and SaaS market, as smaller online retail companies can very quickly launch EasyAsk without the need for an in-house IT organization.  

EasyAsk was a sponsor of the research report, but Aberdeen says it had no substantive input into the report's content or findings.

A complimentary online copy of the Aberdeen report is available at http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30411938&cid=6368

About EasyAsk

EasyAsk is radically changing the speed and ease of how people find information through the company's ground-breaking natural language search and query software.  EasyAsk software products go far beyond traditional search, allowing users to simply ask questions in plain English and receive highly tuned results on demand.  The EasyAsk eCommerce Edition uses this unique technology to deliver an industry leading website search, navigation and merchandising solutions that boosts online revenue through increased conversion rates, better customer experience and agile merchandising.  EasyAsk Business Edition revolutionizes enterprise decision-making, moving beyond traditional business intelligence solutions with easy, low-cost deployment and a unique natural language interface that extends access to information anywhere in the organization.

Based in Burlington, Massachusetts, EasyAsk has long been a leader in natural language information analysis and delivery software. Customers such as Gap, Coldwater Creek, Hewlett Packard, Lands End, Lillian Vernon, Aramark, BASF, Talbots, Nedbank, BNP Paribas, TruValue, Siemens, Hartford Hospital, Ceridian, JoAnn Fabrics and Harbor Freight Tools rely on the EasyAsk software products to run their business and e-commerce operations daily.  For more information, please visit EasyAsk

For Further Information Please Contact:

Paul Hirsch for EasyAsk; 925-736-0976 or 510-499-2589

SOURCE EasyAsk