Zmags Introduces CommercePro -the First Merchandising Platform Optimized for e-Commerce

BOSTON, May 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Zmags today introduced CommercePro, the first merchandising and intelligence platform specifically optimized for e-commerce. CommercePro is a rich media merchandising solution that allows brands and retailers to transform content into engaging digital experiences across the broadest range of platforms – online, mobile and social – to increase revenue and develop the most complete understanding of their customers.

In an increasingly competitive and fluid retail market, companies are looking for the most effective ways to engage and sell to customers wherever, whenever and however they choose to shop. CommercePro is the first SaaS platform that allows clients to design and deliver personalized interactive shopping experiences through online catalogs and digital magazines. Complementing a brand's existing online presence with a highly merchandized online experience powerfully converts browsers into buyers and buyers into power shoppers. These digital experiences – whether delivered via the Web, smartphones, tablets, or over social networks like Facebook – dramatically increase shopper engagement and conversion rates as compared with traditional e-commerce sites.

"Leading brands and retailers have been actively searching for a way to extend the power of their offline merchandising prowess to their digital channels – particularly on iPads, iPhones, and on Facebook," said Michael Schreck, Zmags' president and chief executive officer. "Today, we are thrilled to announce a commerce-centric solution that translates the art and science of proven retail practices effectively into the web and mobile realms." [For more details on Schreck's appointment, please see release New CEO Michael Schreck Joins Zmags to Lead the Charge into Mobile and Social Commerce issued May 24, 2011.]

With CommercePro, Zmags introduces several powerful new features that enable top retailers and brands to significantly increase revenue and conversion rates and improve customer engagement online. These include:

• Tablet/Mobile Commerce – According to a recent Forrester/Shop.org report, more than 20% of mobile traffic to retail websites comes from tablet devices (and growing rapidly).Converting those customers, though, is a challenge. CommercePro's new tablet functionality allows merchants to automatically mobilize content and commerce, converting shoppers within the Zmags digital experience on any device, including the iPad.
• Facebook Commerce – Merchants and brands are able to fully tap into Facebook's tremendous global community by publishing e-commerce-enabled catalogs directly to their Facebook pages.
• Integrated Shopping Cart – To help merchants reduce bounce rates and improve conversion, CommercePro creates a single unified shopping cart available for every product directly inside the interactive digital catalog. CommercePro tightly integrates e-commerce functionality with a brand's carefully architected customer experience enabling it to offer the right products at the right time, inspiring customers to make purchases—both planned and impulse.
• Funnel Analytics for Shopping Carts – CommercePro provides all the customer data a brand needs to make challenging business decisions through detailed analytics of the buying process, including conversion rates, order value, number of items per order and other actionable intelligence. Clients now have unprecedented insight into the entire purchase process, from browsing to buying – and all the steps in between.
• Dynamic Display Windows – Integrated product display windows enable brands to significantly improve conversions by enabling customers to view product details and complete a purchase directly from within the catalog. These windows effortlessly connect with product databases, recommendation engines, and social media platforms.

"We've found tremendous benefit in using our offline content to support online commerce, as it has allowed us to maintain our couture brand image across all consumer touchpoints while developing a much better understanding of how our customers shop and interact with our site," said Amy Sullivan, director of e-commerce at Brahmin. Brahmin, makers of handcrafted, luxury leather handbags and accessories, has been a Zmags customer for two years and will be launching CommercePro in June, a decision that was made largely due to the power of the product's merchandising and analytic capabilities. Sullivan continues, "Zmags is providing tools that deliver intelligence we can immediately implement to better meet our customers' expectations – regardless of where and how they interact with our brand."

While it is early in the CommercePro experience for many retailers and brands, a major European retailer has experienced nearly a doubling of its conversion rates and average order size when compared to its traditional web traffic.  

"These are challenging times for the retail industry," said Schreck. "The rapid adoption of smartphones, iPads, and Facebook has rewritten the rules of engagement for companies and their customers. CommercePro by Zmags – positioned at the intersection of content, commerce and intelligence – is uniquely suited to help retailers proactively respond to these opportunities."

About Zmags

Zmags delivers an on-demand, rich media merchandising and analytics platform to 3,000 of the world's most progressive brands and retailers. The Company's SaaS service enables its clients to design and deliver personalized interactive online catalogs and digital magazines that dramatically increase shopper engagement and conversion rates across virtually any mobile device or social media – whether on an iPad, iPhone, browser, or within Facebook. End-users who engage with brands via the Zmags digital experience are twice as likely to convert from prospects to buyers versus other e-commerce channels. Zmags, based in Boston with offices in London and Copenhagen, boasts a client base of a "who's-who" of retailers, e-commerce, technology leaders, and global brands. Current customers include: 40% of apparel companies and over 20% of retailers listed on the Fortune 500 and 55% of automotive firms and 60% of business services organizations from the Global 100.  Its private equity backers include both European and North American sources.

For more information, please visit www.zmags.com or view our demo video at http://www.zmags.com/media-kit/commercepro-low.

Contact:
Greg Peverill-Conti
InkHouse for Zmags
[email protected]
+1 781-791-4552

Lisa Mokaba
InkHouse For Zmags
[email protected]
+1 781-791-4570

Zmags, Content. Commerce. Intelligence. Reimagined., and Zmags Publicator are trademarks of Zmags Corp in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Zmags