Author Archive for: admin

EasyAsk helps the company create the best online experience in the complex printer and cartridge marketplace

BURLINGTON, MA—MAY 3, 2011—Anyone who has ever searched for the proper ink cartridges for their printer model can tell you about the dizzying array of options and combinations that can quickly frustrate a buyer. Using EasyAsk eCommerce edition, InkJet Superstore has dramatically simplified finding the right printer cartridges and accessories, providing the easiest online experience for customers, increasing online orders and revenue.

InkjetSuperstore.com sells toner and ink cartridges for virtually every make and model of printer, copier, and fax machine, with over 6,000 items.  InkJet Superstore’s vision is clearly articulated on the company website: “To be the best, the easiest, the cheapest and friendliest place to buy printer accessories.”  To back this up, InkJet Superstore offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee, which includes paying for return shipping cost.

Search and Merchandising are a vital part of delivering the best customer experience and ensuring customer satisfaction.  Because nearly one-third of all site visitors immediately go to the search box, delivering good search results on the first try is crucial.

“Nothing is more important than being able to direct buyers to the right cartridge and accessories”, said Ilan Douek, President, InkJetSuperstore.com.   “EasyAsk gave us search capabilities that deliver rich, accurate results to both increase conversion rates and reduce the burden on our call center.”

Using EasyAsk, InkjetSuperstore.com has seen impressive results in a short period:

• The site now returns 80% fewer “no results” searches,
• Order conversion rates have increased 6%
• Calls and ‘live chat’ requests have decreased as customers are better able to find products

EasyAsk also enables InkjetSuperstore.com to manage an ever-growing catalog of ink and toner products.  The automatic synchronization between the NetSuite-based product catalog and EasyAsk eCommerce search enables new products to more easily be assimilated into the website.  The rich EasyAsk analytics also allow merchandisers to see new products in customer searches and quickly add these new products to inventory.

“Our relationship with InkJet Superstore goes well beyond delivering best-in-class e-commerce search and merchandising products”, said Craig Bassin, CEO of EasyAsk.   “The EasyAsk team was dedicated to make InkJet Superstore a rousing success and our partnership with NetSuite helped deliver an integrated e-commerce solution to Inkjet Superstore.  Only EasyAsk has developed a solution that allows the site to remain on NetSuite, providing increased SEO.”

InkjetSuperstore.com launched its business in 2005 on the NetSuite platform, building its pure-play e-commerce operation around the NetSuite Ecommerce solution.  NetSuite’s cloud enterprise suite gave InkJet Superstore all the capabilities the company needed to run their business, but required more sophisticated e-commerce search due to the complex relationships between printers, cartridges and accessories.  The partnership formed between EasyAsk and NetSuite through the NetSuite Solution Developer Network enabled InkJet Superstore to find an integrated, best-in-class search solution for their NetSuite-based e-commerce platform.

EasyAsk eCommerce Edition

EasyAsk eCommerce Edition is the industry leading e-commerce search and merchandising solution that allows visitors to find products faster, and receive compelling promotions and offers.  EasyAsk understands the content and intent of the search question – “red long sleeved dresses under $150” – to deliver the right results on the first page.  EasyAsk eCommerce Edition customers see the industry’s highest conversion rates, deliver a superior customer experience, and see dramatic increases in average order sizes.

About EasyAsk

EasyAsk is radically changing the speed and ease of how people find information through the company’s ground-breaking natural language search 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.

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, JJill, 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.

EasyAsk’s Rich Natural Language Search Is Now In Easy Reach of Thousands of E-Commerce Sites

BURLINGTON, MA—March. 9, 2011— As Microsoft announced new natural language enhancements to Bing Shopping, EasyAsk, an industry leader and original innovator of natural language search technology, announced a new cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) e-commerce search and merchandising offering.  The new solution brings the decade long excellence in natural language e-commerce search and merchandising of EasyAsk to the cloud, putting the rich functionality within easy reach of any e-commerce site.

EasyAsk eCommerce Cloud Edition brings the power and ease of the recently announced EasyAsk eCommerce Edition Version 12 to a cloud/SaaS deployment model, giving customers an affordable way to enhance their e-commerce sites with natural language. EasyAsk eCommerce Cloud Edition also builds upon EasyAsk’s strategic partnership with NetSuite around EasyAsk eCommerce Edition for NetSuite, which is now being successfully deployed with NetSuite Ecommerce customers.

“Microsoft’s announcement continues the market movement towards natural language technology started with the IBM Watson victory on Jeopardy!”, said Craig Bassin, CEO of EasyAsk. “We applaud Microsoft’s accomplishment with Bing, which shows the richness of natural language within e-commerce. With EasyAsk natural language now available in the cloud, e-commerce sites everywhere can take advantage of this rich capability which none of our major competitors can provide.”

EasyAsk eCommerce Edition is the industry leading e-commerce search and merchandising solution that allows visitors to find products faster, and receive compelling promotions and offers. EasyAsk understands the content and intent of the search question – “red long sleeved dresses under $150” – to deliver the right results on the first page. EasyAsk eCommerce Edition customers see the industry’s highest conversion rates, deliver a superior customer experience, and see dramatic increases in average order sizes.

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.

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.

“Search Engine Optimization, Natural Language Technology, Enable Holiday Wish Fulfillment for those on 2010 Nice List,” Says Santa

BURLINGTON, MA—FEB. 1, 2011–EasyAsk, an industry leader in e-commerce search and merchandising software that has helped fuel 72 million transactions over the past year, today announced EasyAsk eCommerce Edition Version 12 which provides significant new capabilities for e-commerce search and merchandising.

Among the new features in EasyAsk eCommerce Edition Version 12 are: increased Search Engine Optimization (SEO), search auto-complete, NetSuite Ecommerce integration, product review attributes and integration with recommendation engines. All new features are available in a single package for EasyAsk eCommerce Edition Version 12 eliminating the need for customers to purchase expensive “add-on” modules. The simplistic packaging and pricing, combined with the unique EasyAsk natural language technology, enable the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) and best value for enterprise-class search and merchandising.

“EasyAsk has revolutionized online holiday shopping and has had a direct effect on labor practices with my elves,” said Santa Claus while vacationing on a Mazatlan beach this month. “The natural language technology has led to a significant decrease in reported disappointments from those on my Nice List.” In other words, SEO and TCO are helping Santa go ho-ho-ho.

EasyAsk’s unique natural language technology fuels the company’s industry leading e-commerce search and merchandising platform and tools. EasyAsk natural language drives better search to convert buyers faster, more flexible navigation to convert shoppers into buyers, and more compelling offers and promotions to increase order sizes. The result is higher conversion rates and increased e-commerce revenues.

“The EasyAsk software and natural language technology delivers a superior search, navigation and merchandising platform that allows us to convert more visitors into buyers”, said Andrew Deren, Executive Vice President of Technology, Personalization Mall. “The EasyAsk implementation was fast and smooth, meeting our deadline of being live before the holidays. We are looking forward to EasyAsk Version 12 to take advantage of the new features.”

New Features in EasyAsk eCommerce Edition Version 12

EasyAsk eCommerce Edition Version 12 contains a number of new features and enhancements, including:

• Search Engine Optimization – the new search site map generator provides integration with internet search engines to optimize the exposure and ranking of products in consumer searches.
• Search Auto-Complete – as site visitors’ type in the search box, EasyAsk will provide a list of suggested searches which the visitor can select from without having to finish typing the entire search string. Advanced algorithms based on the user and site search history, as well as analytics maintained by EasyAsk drive the suggestions.
• NetSuite integration – integration with NetSuite eCommerce including automated item catalog extraction via NetSuite SuiteCloud web services, and optimized e-commerce site integration for superior SEO and integrated look and feel. For further information on EasyAsk eCommerce Edition for NetSuite, please click here.
• Product Review attributes – EasyAsk search and navigation can now include product review data from vendors such as BazaarVoice. This allows visitors to search using product review criteria – i.e. “black loafers under $70 with 4 star reviews” – see review information as attributes in the navigation, and use review information inside search business rules to raise products in results or drive related offers or promotions.
• Integration with product recommendation engines – EasyAsk search results can now include associated product recommendations driven by product recommendation engines such as Rich Relevance and Certona.

“The EasyAsk platform has tens of millions of dollars in R&D investment to-date and we have a strong commitment to our customers and the market in continuing our industry leadership position,” said Craig Bassin, CEO of EasyAsk. “EaskAsk eCommerce Edition Version 12 continues to make our software easier to use while providing new e-commerce search and merchandising techniques which customers can take advantage of.

EasyAsk eCommerce Edition Version 12 is fully compatible with EasyAsk eCommerce Edition Versions 10 and 11. This provides a safe and easy upgrade path for existing EasyAsk customers and allows them to automatically take advantage of these advanced new features.

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.

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.

Study Touts Specialized Search Software As Key Factor To Attract Repeat Business

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 https://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

Simplified Customer Experience Leads To Soaring Profits For Online Retailers

Anyone who has ever put the word “pumps” into a retail search engine expecting to find a tool to help them put air in a tire or a basketball but instead was forced to deal with an array of women’s shoes will understand the value proposition put forth by EasyAsk, a software company based in Burlington MA.

“What we do, quite simply, is equip search engines to communicate like adults instead of like a literal-minded toddler,” said EasyAsk CEO Craig Bassin. “Our proprietary software is the link between the human intelligence typing in the query and the back-end computer intelligence providing the response. Our customers tell us that this has profound impact on their ability to deliver what their customers want the very first time.”

An example of EasyAsk’s new SMB strategy, Schuler Shoes of Minneapolis is one company that reaped immediate rewards after installing EasyAsk software. According to Director of Ecommerce Mike Schuler, his company experienced a 28 percent increase in online revenue after installing EasyAsk.

“There was a 60 percent increase in the number of products purchased and a 34 percent increase in the number of transactions,” he said. “You can’t argue with that.” EasyAsk enables Schuler Shoes’ online customers to search for shoes as if they were speaking to a salesman in their brick and mortar shop. If you were looking for “men’s running shoes in size 10,” that’s exactly what you’d tell the sales man and it’s also exactly what you’d type in the search box.

Schuler also said that back-to-school sales this year with EasyAsk eclipsed 2009 holiday season sales before EasyAsk. For retailers, that is like adding a second Christmas to the calendar. Lillian Vernon, Lands End, Gap, and TrueValue Hardware are some of the retailers that attribute part of their growth to EasyAsk software.

Bassin says that EasyAsk also helps businesses analyze their performance by simplifying the process between what an employee is attempting to research and the response from the data system. “We convert business questions into back-end queries, retrieve the data, and return the results to the user. No technical skills or training are required on the part of the end user,” he said.

Companies like Siemens and Hartford Hospital are among those that have simplified the work day for their internal business analysts. “The payback on a system such as EasyAsk is clear and present,” said Jack Alberti, Director if IT Special Projects at Hartford Hospital. “Our end users in clinical and non-clinical areas don’t have to wait for critical information. And in our industry, secure access to the right information at the right time can mean a world of difference.”

Siemens Product Manager Monica Sharp sees EasyAsk’s value proposition in a more technical light. “Natural language is full of complexities, nuances and exceptions, and EasyAsk is able to handle all of these challenges, producing intelligent results with ease, accuracy and speed.”

EasyAsk opened its doors in 1994, and has grown as ecommerce and the need for deeper business analysis has grown. The privately held company has offices in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and California.

“Unlike typical search engines, EasyAsk does not depend on inefficient and inaccurate text matching. Consequently, we do not return a laundry list of every document or product that contains words that were used in the search,” Bassin explained. “Instead, EasyAsk intelligently interprets a user’s question, employing advanced linguistic technologies understanding and domain expertise derived from the data source being searched. EasyAsk then generates a more precise search query that extracts a far more accurate answer.

“As a result we help our customers make more money and save more time,” he added. “We find that makes us popular with them and makes them more popular with their customers, with all that love transferring to the bottom line. And as Mike Schuler says, you can’t argue with that.”

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.

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.