New York, NY— October 14, 2009 — Four U.S. retailers — Belisi Fashions; The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE); CHEFS Catalog; and Johnston & Murphy — have selected the FiftyOne Global Ecommerce solution to expand or improve their international Web sales and reach hundreds of millions of consumers around the globe.
FiftyOne enables retailers to dynamically present their existing U.S. ecommerce site as a global ecommerce site, complete with automated multicurrency merchandising, international payment processing, landed cost calculation, logistics and customs clearance facilitation, and international returns management.
“With FiftyOne, retailers can offer a single, universally branded customer experience to shoppers around the world — without the need to invest in new websites, call centers, or infrastructure,” said Kris Green, Chief Marketing Officer, FiftyOne, Inc.
The retailers announced today “are leaders in their respective industries and represent the growing appeal – and ease — of reaching out to hundreds of millions of new shoppers,” Green said. They are:
· Belisi Fashions (Belisi.com), which offers luxury handbags, neckties, scarves, and jewelry as well as fashion products from other major labels
· The Buckle, Inc. (buckle.com), a leading retailer of casual apparel, footwear, and accessories for fashion–conscious young men and women
· CHEFS Catalog (chefscatalog.com), the leading catalog retailer of top-quality cooking equipment at exceptional values for home chefs and cooking enthusiasts,
· Johnston & Murphy (johnstonmurphy.com), a retailer of premium selection of men’s and women’s footwear, accessories, apparel, and gifts
Ensuring a Quality Customer Experience
Executives at Johnston & Murphy selected FiftyOne to dramatically improve the firm’s previous poor experience with global ecommerce, which was marked by the difficulties of international shipments and customer dissatisfaction with the imposition of local duties and fees upon delivery, according to Director of Customer Information Heather Marsh.
“FiftyOne was the all-inclusive solution,” said Marsh. “FiftyOne provides fraud screening and exchange rates, and fits right into our checkout cart so transactions are as seamless as possible. And FiftyOne guarantees the landed costs for our customers — to ensure our customers are informed and satisfied throughout the process.”
Implementing with Experience
Repeated requests from shoppers outside the U.S. prompted CHEFS Catalog to explore the potential of “going global,” said Mona Van De Weghe, Ecommerce Director at CHEFS.
According to Dale Schuman, IT Director, “as we investigated possible solutions, it became clear that the people at FiftyOne are very experienced. They really know their stuff. They know what’s involved. Their model makes sense. The solution is comprehensive and well thought out.”
“Implementation was straightforward and smooth,” said Van De Weghe. “Obviously, there was work on our part, but we had a rollout with a fairly aggressive deadline. With FiftyOne, the project was almost a turnkey solution.
“While we decided that now was the right time to broaden our scope, we also knew that a global expansion would not have happened if we needed to do it all ourselves. And the FiftyOne business model makes sense. It’s all a fit,” she noted.
Heather Marsh, of Johnston & Murphy, agrees. “FiftyOne’s model is very low-risk. We’re only paying for sales. There’s no huge payback period because the implementation costs are fairly low. We’re basically just talking about a commission on new sales.”
Growing List of Customers, Countries
The merchants announced today join a growing list of FiftyOne retailers representing retailers ranging from artwork to cameras and clothing to household products, and include Anne Geddes, Anthropologie, Brookstone, Drugstore.com, Overstock.com, SureSource, and a host of others.
Throughout the summer, FiftyOne announced major upgrades to its global ecommerce platform, including an expansion into Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Thailand; a new single-page checkout design optimized for conversion; and sophisticated tools that allow retailers to dynamically adjust prices by market.
A larger geographic expansion for FiftyOne customers — to include 57 additional countries — is planned for late October.
For more information, visit www.fiftyone.com.
About FiftyOne
FiftyOne Global Ecommerce empowers leading U.S. retailers to utilize their existing ecommerce infrastructure and online shopping experience to market, sell, and fulfill merchandise to international shoppers with cost certainty. FiftyOne manages all aspects of the international order life cycle, from multicurrency merchandising and payments to global logistics, local delivery, and customer service. FiftyOne is powering international ecommerce for Anne Geddes, Anthropologie, Belisi Fashions, Brookstone, The Buckle, CHEFS Catalog, Drugstore.com, Johnston & Murphy, Overstock.com, SureSource, and many others. The company is headquartered in New York City. For more information, visit www.fiftyone.com.
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Public Relations contact, Boston: Tiziani Whitmyre Inc., http://www.tizinc.com/public-relations
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