Concept:
An Endeca-powered dynamic storefront is designed to present the most relevant and compelling content to customers, based on their specifications, at each step of the online shopping experience.  By incorporating content like as user reviews, video and buying guides directly into the decision-making process, these storefronts aim to give customers the experience of one-on-one customer service without stepping into a store. Studies have shown that retail web sites that incorporate this broad variety of content into the customer’s online experience have seen increases in traffic, conversion rates and online sales.

Released in March of 2009, the Endeca Commerce Suite was designed to allow merchandisers the ability to provide their customers with a more intuitive and user-friendly online experience, thereby converting more site visitors into site customers.  Its design gives merchandisers increased control over how content is presented on their respective web pages, via features such as Content-Spotlighting™ and Page Builder, resulting in higher site traffic, customer loyalty, and sales.

Concept:
First Insight is aimed at connecting retailers and manufacturers to the voice of the consumer to optimize and streamline critical business decisions. By tapping into the current thinking of large groups of consumers through online casual games and applying predictive analytics, First Insight’s solution is designed to gives retailers the power to generate early insight on trends, attributes and product demand, before they make their purchasing decisions. 

Consumers are identified through various avenues of social media, their current insights are gathered through casual games and then predicative analytics are applied.  The resulting solution offers a real time, ahead-of-the-trend view of consumer behavior, which retailers can use to truly sense product demand.  Consumers also benefit because they are given a more active voice in the retailing process, expressing what they want and will be more likely to buy.

Team:
Headquartered in Pittsburgh with offices in Boston and India, First Insight is led by an experienced management team with interdisciplinary expertise in merchandising, market research, consumer intelligence, operations research and software application development.

Concept:
RFID Enabled Solutions (RES) is a global provider of business solutions that are focused on optimizing operations, reducing expenses and improving business processes using radio frequency identification (RFID). RFID is a data collection technology which uses radio signals to transmit information about an item such as a serial number or name. RES provides end-to-end RFID solutions designed to increase data accuracy and product visibility, ultimately aimed at increased revenue generation and enhanced customer satisfaction.

Team:
RES leadership, with over 30 years of retail and over 20 years of RFID experience, has led some of the major retail RFID pilots in the U.S., including rollouts with Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch and Industry Standard. The company is owned and operated by Neco Can, Kurt Domini, Ryan Jones, and Brad Chuminatto. RFID Enabled Solutions is headquartered in Dublin, OH with offices in Dayton, OH, London U.K. and Turkey.

Market Relevance:
There’s been a great deal of chatter in the industry, as RFID is poised to become ubiquitous. The technology matures into a low-cost, general technology supported by the world’s rapidly developing wireless infrastructure and Web-based software application base.

Concept:
Searchandise Commerce, which was founded in July 2008, is aimed at taking merchandising tactics in the brick and mortar world and translating them to the Web. In physical stores, retailers vie for coveted spots, such as end caps or kiosks, to increase awareness and actively engage consumers as they conduct product research or commence the purchase process.   As product research increasingly begins on the Web, the analogy for premium positions are the top spots on search engine results pages or featured product zones on retail sites. With more online shoppers beginning product research on retail sites rather than on search engines, retailers can offer manufacturers an opportunity to boost their on-site visibility by applying the strategies of in-store merchandising, and combining it with the tactics of paid search. Searchandise Commerce is designed to enable manufacturers to apply cost-per-click bids to advance a product position within a search list, or any section where products are presented. Unlike traditional paid search solutions, all traffic stays on the retailers’ Web site.

The company addresses manufacturer and retail needs, in turn, offering the consumer a seamless shopping experience. When consumers conduct product searches on a retailer’s Web site, Searchandise is integrated transparently within the search algorithm. Searchandise Commerce solutions target retail eCommerce managers and manufacturer channel and brand managers.