Elastic Path Software Announces Customer-Centric Ecommerce Platform

Elastic Path Software Announces Customer-Centric Ecommerce Platform

New Features of Elastic Path 5 Boost Customer Conversion and Drive Revenue for Online Retailers

Vancouver, BC, Canada, October 23, 2006 -- Elastic Path Software, pioneer of flexible ecommerce software, today unveiled Elastic Path 5, the most recent advancement of its ecommerce platform for online retail. The re-engineered platform delivers a powerful promotion rules engine, innovative search engine marketing functionality, faceted in-site search and navigation, and full web services capabilities to mid-sized online retailers. In conjunction with the company’s new AJAX-based checkout, Elastic Path One Page™ (see October 23, 2006 press release "Elastic Path Software Announces Single Page Checkout for Online Stores"), Elastic Path 5 enables online retailers to attract and convert customers profitably. Jupiter research predicts that online sales will reach $95 billion by the end of 2006. With the exceptional growth in online shopping, retailers have an unprecedented opportunity to grow revenue. However, the increasing cost of acquiring customers forces online retailers to boost average order size, improve conversion rates, and reduce shopping cart abandonment or face becoming dependant on repeat purchasers. Elastic Path 5 is comprised of several components that empower retailers to deliver a rewarding shopping experience and recognize customer profitability immediately. Using Elastic Path Rules™, ecommerce marketers can efficiently create an infinite number of promotions using natural language, maximizing the value of each order. Elastic Path Optimize™ offers intelligent search engine optimization tools used to connect web searchers with the most relevant products possible, boosting overall conversion rates and minimizing customer acquisition costs. Elastic Path Seek™ delivers filterable in-site search and navigation, helping shoppers find products fast. Utilizing web services, Elastic Path Connect™ provides connectivity into alternative data sources such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) to deliver a consistent multi-channel experience to shoppers, all through a highly flexible service-oriented architecture. Additionally, Elastic Path 5 dramatically reduces upfront and ongoing costs with its continued use of proven open source components. "The high cost of customer acquisition significantly impacts ecommerce margins," said Alex Fletcher, lead industry analyst at The Entiva Group. "For many online retailers, paid search marketing represents a major part of that cost. Through effective organic search engine optimization, retailers can change the rules of the game, acquiring more customers at a reduced cost." "We needed an ecommerce platform that would help us raise conversions, lower the cost of customer acquisition and get immediately profitable transactions," said Rob Levy of Electricshopping.com. "Since launching on Elastic Path, order volume has significantly increased, average order size and items per basket is up 25 percent, and order accuracy has never been this high — all without adding resources or changing our business process." A powerful complement to Elastic Path 5 is the company’s AJAX-powered Elastic Path One Page™ technology, creating an optimal check out experience and enabling returning customers to complete an order with a single click. One Page eliminates waiting for page reloads, provides a constant snapshot of order details and allows cart contents and order details to be adjusted at any time, in any order, without ever leaving the checkout process. "Elastic Path 5 is an example of how we are working with online retailers to meet their current needs, while at the same time, demonstrating the ability to look ahead of the curve and anticipate the ecommerce needs of tomorrow with products like One Page," said Harry Chemko, CEO of Elastic Path Software. "These new tools enable online retailers to reduce acquisition costs, convert customers, boost the value of online transactions and ultimately win market share in this competitive market." Product AvailabilityElastic Path 5 will be shipping to customers on November 6, 2006. About Elastic Path SoftwareElastic Path Software provides a flexible ecommerce platform that gives enterprises the capabilities and control to deliver innovation in a complex environment. The Java-based platform enables integration with SOA environments and rapid development of custom features. Enterprises can now quickly adapt ecommerce tactics to gain a competitive advantage. Companies such as Aeroplan, Time Inc, and Samsonite use Elastic Path for maximum control over their evolving online stores. For more information, please visit https://www.elasticpath.com.