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Social networking phenomenon critical to future of e-commerce success

UK launch of community intelligence technology from Avail creates link between customer trust and increased sales for retailers

November 14, 2007

The global e-commerce economy must incorporate intelligent recommendations from its customer base into its site content or risk losing credibility with users. This is according to Avail Intelligence, which is launching its unique community intelligence technology in the UK.

Recent research has found that using ‘the wisdom of crowds’ will be crucial in future e-commerce, however currently 64 per cent of retailers do not use the technique.[1]

Avail’s collective intelligence technology is already being trusted by international brands such as H&M, La Redoute, Neckermann and Redcats Group, part of PPR, one of the world’s largest fashion and home shopping companies. The results are significant, immediate and measurable improvements to conversion rates and average order values per customers – Avail pledges increases of up to 20 per cent across these deliverables.

Founded in Sweden, the home of e-commerce excellence, Avail uses advanced mathematical algorithms to track collective intelligence and customer behaviour on e-commerce websites. This information is used to create real-time recommendations for other customers looking at similar products. By using intelligence solely from the site’s community, rather than product promotions driven by a marketing exercise, customers gain a sense of trust from a site, improving the shopping experience and increasing sales.

Several leading brands have already signed up to Avail’s technology in the UK, including DVD.co.uk.

“Navigating our huge range of films is a critical tool for our customers so the use of collective intelligence has a direct impact on the shopping experience,” said Steve Graham, managing director at DVD.co.uk. “40 per cent of links from our search results page to a product page are by clicking on the Avail predicted results.”

“Web 2.0 elements are adding a new depth to business strategies where objectivity and transparency are at the heart of marketing and e-commerce,” said Dr Rolf Elmér, CEO, Avail Intelligence. “Retailers who neglect the power of the site’s user community do so at their peril.”

“Consumers are no longer persuaded by marketing spin – they want recommendations from their peers which they can trust and use in their own purchasing decisions,” Elmér continued. “Using this information is not only vital for the survival of an e-commerce site, but will be a critical element in increasing order values and improving the shopping experience.”

[1] Forrester Research, Monetizing Web 2.0, 2006

About the company

Avail Intelligence is the leader in maximising the value of visitor traffic to e-commerce web sites. The company’s technology harnesses the community intelligence from site visitors to deliver the most effective shopping experience for new and returning customers.

Using advanced mathematical techniques from its research arm Avail Labs, Avail Intelligence has created the Avail eMarketing suite. The suite comprises a set of tools, which improve relevance when merchandising to and communicating with individual visitors across the entire Customer Interaction Cycle™ of a single web site or across multiple web sites.

The results are significant, immediate and measurable improvements to conversion rates and average order values.

Avail Intelligence’s technology is being used by over 80% of the leading Scandinavian e-commerce sites. Key UK customers include Berry Brothers and DVD.co.uk.

Contact details

Patrick Hussey at LEWIS, the PR agency
Tel: +44 (0) 161 601 7740 Fax: +44 (0) 161 601 7741
Email: avail@lewispr.com
Website: www.lewispr.com

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