Cambridge, Mass., August 12, 2003 - Endeca, the only provider of Guided Navigation and advanced search solutions, and Fry, Inc., a leading Web development and managed services provider, today announced at eTail East 2003 that high-end, specialty retailer Brookstone Inc. (Nasdaq: BKST), has launched Fry's customized solution using Endeca InFront with Guided Navigation and advanced search for its Web site, www.brookstone.com.
The Fry solution, featuring Endeca's award-winning product for search and navigation, is enabling Brookstone to improve consumer experience, increase conversion rates and improve ROI of Internet operations by powering site-wide navigation and search that helps consumers quickly find the products that best meet their needs. Brookstone is already experiencing a return on investment with an increase in site conversion rates in less than 90 days of full deployment.
"Our product offering continues to grow and evolve and as a result, we know it can be challenging for our customers to quickly find the perfect product on our site. This is why the Guided Navigation solution recommended by Fry made so much sense," said Greg Sweeney, VP/GM Direct Marketing for Brookstone. "We are extremely pleased with the results-to-date. Not only did we see a quick jump in conversion, we saw it in a period when we were driving more traffic to our site, during which conversion rates typically decline a bit. Endeca InFront is clearly helping us provide a better online experience for consumers by making it easier for them to find and buy the products that are just right for them."
Fry, Inc., which designs, builds, hosts and manages Web applications for industry-leading clients has built the new Web site around Endeca's robust search and navigation technology. They have also designed interfaces that help maximize selling opportunities, and provide hosting services and around-the-clock monitoring through their managed services operation.
Traditional search can often lead to frustrating dead-ends or worse, to a flood of meaningless results. With a vast product offering including unique, innovative audio systems, high tech cooking tools, and a wide variety of massage products, Brookstone needed a search solution that would allow consumers to easily navigate through the Web site and find the exact product they were looking for. In addition, Brookstone wanted a solution that would showcase its commitment to providing consumers with the best products and the best information to make the right purchasing decisions.
"By offering Guided Navigation to our clients, we provide them with a uniquely different approach to search and navigation that will deliver a significant business advantage," said Dave Fry, president and CEO of Fry, Inc. "With Endeca InFront, Brookstone now offers a unique online experience that encourages browsing and discovery, and delivers measurable results through improved core metrics."
Endeca InFront has been proven to deliver improved conversion rates, increased average order sizes and a more positive and productive shopping experience. By implementing the Fry customized Endeca InFront solution, Brookstone is now making the most of its relationships with consumers and this will help encourage repeat visits and longer sessions each time.
"Working with leading integrators like Fry, Inc. allows Endeca technology to be adapted to specifically address the needs of individual clients. In the case of Brookstone, the solution was tailored with needs of consumers in mind," said Steve Sayre, vice president of marketing and business development for Endeca. "We are confident their new InFront solution featuring Guided Navigation will continue to enhance user experience and will deliver results that are measurable in site performance, consumer satisfaction and the company's bottom-line."
Endeca's Guided Navigation with advanced search solutions help businesses across a variety of sectors like retail, financial services and business-to-business with applications that address the information overload problems associated with content, catalog and enterprise information access and retrieval. Endeca solutions are built on innovative technology that makes it possible for the first time to offer Guided Navigation and advanced search on structured and unstructured information with high performance, and low total cost of ownership, even at massive scale.
About Endeca
Endeca offers innovative advanced search and Guided Navigation information delivery solutions for companies who need to integrate, discover, and navigate enterprise data to solve the business problems associated with information overload. Endeca technology is already at work for leading retail, financial services and business-to-business companies like Barnes & Noble, Eddie Bauer, and Arrow Electronics. Endeca solutions empower users to explore and discover relevant relationships in data and find accurate and precise results with unprecedented speed. Patent-pending algorithms provide a scalable, Web-based infrastructure for data exploration, leading to highly relevant and meaningful search results every time. This technology can be applied across a wide-range of enterprise and customer applications including Customer Relationship Management (CRM) analytics, catalogs, directories, search and portal integration. Endeca is a privately held company headquartered in Cambridge, MA and is backed by leading venture capital firms including Ampersand Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners and Venrock Associates. Endeca is an IBM Advanced Business Partner and is a preferred provider of IBM’s WebSphere Commerce Group. For more information, please visit www.endeca.com or email us at info@endeca.com.
About Fry, Inc.
Fry, Inc. helps organizations conduct business transactions, disseminate information and build customer relationships electronically. The firm designs, builds, hosts and manages Web-based applications for clients such as Crate and Barrel, Godiva Chocolatier, Unilever, Home and Garden Television, Food Network, Spiegel, Eddie Bauer, AAA Michigan and the Auto Club Group, Brookstone, Domaine Chandon, and Graco Children's Products, Inc. Online operations created and managed by Fry generated nearly $1 billion in 2002. The company has offices in Ann Arbor, New York and Chicago and specializes in systems engineering, managed services, information architecture, creative design, usability and brand strategy. Established in 1994, Fry is privately held and maintains an equity relationship with Summit Partners, a leading private equity and venture capital firm.
About Brookstone, Inc.
Brookstone, Inc. is a specialty retailer that operates 262 Brookstone Brand stores nationwide and in Puerto Rico. Typically located in high-traffic regional shopping malls and airports, the stores feature unique and innovative consumer products. The Company also operates three stores under the Gardeners Eden Brand, and a direct marketing business that consists of three catalogs -- Brookstone, Hard-to-Find Tools and Gardeners Eden -- as well as an e-commerce web site at www.Brookstone.com.