Blog

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Infor Corporation Webinar with EasyAsk

Infor Corporation

EasyAsk and OEM partner Infor Corporation ran a webinar earlier this week titled EasyAsk Commerce Studio for Infor Storefront Customers.  The webinar has a great interview of an Infor – EasyAsk customer, Tenaquip, and provides a great demonstration of EasyAsk Commerce Studio functionality.

The EasyAsk Search and Navigation engine is built into Infor Storefront to deliver rich, natural language search.  Infor Storefront customers can separately purchase the EasyAsk Commerce Studio to take advantage of this easy-to-use tool to tune and manage the e-commerce search environment and create compelling, timely merchandising offers and promotions inside Infor Storefront.

Click here to watch the webinar.

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InkJetSuperstore Supercharges Search with EasyAsk

We released a story this morning about one of our first NetSuite e-commerce search customers, InkJetSuperstore.com.  Click here to read the press release.

InkJetSuperstore.com is a long time NetSuite customer and an early adopter of the NetSuite Ecommerce platform.  When you walk along the hallowed halls of NetSuite and whisper “InkJetSuperstore”, it is like the old E.F. Hutton commercials – everyone stops and listens! InkJetSuperstore is that important to NetSuite!

E-commerce is InkJetSupertore’s ENTIRE business. Thus, e-commerce is their mission critical, “bet your business” software. Search is an essential part of this.

Nearly one-third of all InkJetSuperstore.com visitors immediately go to the search box, making search a critical tool for customer conversion. Adding to the complexity is the cryptic set of printer and cartridge model numbers visitors will search for, and the complex relationships between printer models and various after-market cartridges.

Two of our competitors tried to implement their e-commerce search solutions for InkJetSuperstore prior to EasyAsk.  BOTH FAILED.  We not only implemented EasyAsk on the first try, but did so quickly and efficiently.

InkJetSuperstore is also a testimate to superior engineering.  Among other things, EasyAsk has developed a unique integration with NetSuite Ecommerce that maintains superior Search Engine Optimization than other 3rd party solutions. In addition, we done some automated integration with the NetSuite item catalog via web services, and taken EasyAsk unique features like our SKU processing and mapped these directly to NetSuite (in this case Matrix items).

As we talk with more NetSuite customers, we are discovering the SEO issues is a REALLY BIG DEAL. A number of NetSuite customers have seen their SEO drop off dramatically when using 3rd party search solutions. And now, they are talking to us!

And the timing is great with NetSuite SuiteWorld coming up next week in San Francisco. NetSuite Ecommerce customers, stop by and we will show you how we solve the 3rd party search SEO issue.

Congradulations to InkJetSuperstore and thanks for being a great customer.  Expect to see many more customer announcements in the near future.

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NetSuite Customer InkJet Superstore Jets Past Competitors Using EasyAsk Natural Language E-Commerce Search Software for SaaS

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.

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Double Customer Conversion Rates Using EasyAsk Natural Language Search for E-Commerce

Original Air Date: April, 2012

Watch our on-demand webinar, “Double Customer Conversion Rates Using EasyAsk Natural Language Search for E-Commerce” hosted by the Aberndeen Group and EasyAsk.

We hope you enjoy the webinar and it is informative!

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As Microsoft Introduces Natural Language to Bing Shopping, EasyAsk Brings Natural Language eCommerce Search to the Cloud

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.

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Sherlock, IBM, EasyAsk and Bell

Watson, come here, I need you. (to be clear, Mr. is at the beginning of this quote) Famous phrase uttered by Alexander Graham Bell, the voice-over-wire transmission. 

Elementary, my dear Watson.  A famous Sherlock Holmes line, never written by Arthur Conan Doyle, by the way.  Straight out of the movies.

So, Watson has always been widely recognized.  But now Watson is EVERYWHERE , and with good reason.  We congratulate IBM for their impressive (and expensive) accomplishments in building a Natural Language solution designed to win at Jeopardy.  We understand the enormity of the challenge.  After all, we’ve been building Natural Language solutions for Ecommerce and Business Solutions for a decade. 

What IBM Watson did for Jeopardy, we do for you, our customers.  If you’re an EasyAsk ecommerce customer, we put the search results on the very first page.  Every time.  If you’re using EasyAsk for Business, we provide your end users instant answers to their complex questions like:  ‘who bought products last year, but not last quarter?’ 

 So we can be your own company ‘Watson’, except for one thing.  Watson got a few questions wrong.  When we deploy our solutions on your site:

. . .  we won’t put your business in jeopardy.

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EasyAsk Natural Language Search for E-Commerce

Studies have shown that 85% of site searches do not return what the user sought, and 80% of visitors will abandon a site if search results are poor. EasyAsk natural language technology delivers a better search experience for your customers by enabling them to find products faster and eliminating frustrating searches that return no results or too many products.

Fill out the form to the right to download our free white paper, The ABCs of E-Commerce Search.
This white paper will discuss how better site search using natural language technology delivers critical features needed to achieve better e-commerce results for your site.

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Shop-aholics Enabled by EasyAsk Ecommerce Software; 72 Million Transactions Represent Billions in Sales as Version 12 Introduced

“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.

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The time has come to talk of Natural Language

‘The time has come, the Walrus said, to talk of many things . . . ‘

But instead of ‘shoes and ships and sealing wax’, let’s talk about something that is new, different and exciting:  the emergence of Natural Language as the next logical step in the evolution of search and business intelligence.

When you think of search, you probably think first of Google, and with good reason.  They’ve done a masterful job of establishing themselves as the pre-eminent force in the field of ‘search’.  Google taught us all how to search.  But, the problem is, they taught us all how to search . . .  WRONG. 

With Google you don’t search for exactly what you want.  You search for ‘kind of what you want’ and hope that what you’re really looking for will be on the first few pages of the 10,000 they return.

‘The time has come . . . ‘ to talk about NLP – Natural Language Processing and how computers can now understand, not only the content, but also the INTENT of what it is that you are looking for. 

Our mission, at EasyAsk, has been to expand beyond the traditional ‘key word’ search bottleneck and provide the next generation of NLP-based search for both ecommerce search and merchandising, and business intelligence solutions.  We’re proud to claim a leadership role in helping advance both the adoption and functionality of Natural Language search. 

EasyAsk powers the ecommerce search within the GAP, Lands End and others on the high end, Shuler Shoes, Travers Tools and others in the SMB space. Our partnership with NetSuite provides EasyAsk solutions to their SMB/SaaS markets. 

We now, proudly welcome both IBM and Microsoft to our side of the table.

As I’m sure you know Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, is also an NLP-based solution.  I, like many of you, use Google, but also use Bing.  The results are different.  In my experience Bing understands my ‘intent’ and provides a more accurate response to my question.  It should.  It’s a pretty good NLP engine that crawls the web. 

Now we are watching the launch of IBM’s Watson project.  The Jeopardy challenge is an excellent test of what an NLP-based solution can do when the right resources are applied.  We applaud IBM for this incredibly, successful project and for furthering the cause for NLP-based computing.

But how does this impact you?  You’re in business.  Maybe you’re a small business looking for an accurate ecommerce solution.  You have lots of choices.  All of the search engines you’ll look at are pretty good.  Almost all of them are ‘key word’ based, some provide navigation.  Only one provides an NLP-based engine that will give your customers the item they are searching for on the very first page, every time.  Only one allows you to search for products ‘less than $50’, for example. 

Only one leads the industry in converting browsers to buyers.  EasyAsk.

Maybe you’re part of a larger company and just can’t find answers to the questions you’d like to ask of your Business Intelligence solution.  Frustrating.  Especially after a team of engineers labored for months, spent millions of dollars trying to build the right BI solution.   Possibly you’re one of the thousands of business users desperately trying to get analysis and reports out of your CRM system so you know what marketing campaigns are driving closed deals, what your sales pipeline looks like and which customers are ready for renewal, but have outstanding support issues…

Now imagine similar NLP technology that powered IBM’s Watson, optimized for your corporate information.  Watson was able to compete and win at Jeopardy because it understood the questions.  You communicate to Watson exactly the way you’d speak to another person. 

With EasyAsk Business Edition, you ask questions of EasyAsk exactly the way you’d ask of your VP Sales or your CFO.  For example: ‘show me customers who bought products last year, but not last quarter’.  It’s easy, just ask.  EasyAsk.

So, we welcome both IBM and Microsoft to the next step in the evolution of search.  It’s just a better way to search.  But . . . and I just can’t resist this . . . we were here first!

Next time, let’s discuss the perfect front end for CRM!  Thanks for listening.

Craig

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E-Commerce Search & Merchandising ABCs: The Essential Guide

A recent report from Aberdeen Group found that retailers implementing “Best In Class” e-commerce search and merchandising increased year-over-year average order value by 20%, had a 10% higher net profit margin than the industry average and  had an  average online conversion rate of 6% vs. the industry average of 4%.

The investment in “Best In Class” e-commerce and merchandising is easy to justify.
  • For a smaller retailer with 10,000 visitors per day and an average order size of $50, a conversion rate increase from 4% to 6% can mean an increase in annual revenue of $3.6 million.
  • For a large retailer with 100,000 visitors a day and average purchase price of $120, a conversion rate increase from 4% to 6% can mean an increase of $87 million a year.

Please fill out the form on the right to download our white paper: The ABCs of E-Commerce Search. This white paper will discuss the essential search and merchandising features needed to achieve these better results through search and merchandising for your e-commerce site.

Ready to see how EasyAsk's eCommerce solution can help you? Request a demo!
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