DENVER, CO and NEW YORK NY – August 12, 2008 – The Parent Company (Nasdaq: KIDS) has entered into a contract to utilize the FiftyOne global ecommerce solution from E4X, Inc. (http://www.fiftyone.com/), and plans to kick off its 2008 holiday sales season by extending three of its flagship brands –- eToys, BabyUniverse and My Twinn — internationally to reach 500 million shoppers in 34 countries, including Canada and most of Europe.
“We’re very excited to introduce our eToys, BabyUniverse and My Twinn brands to a half-billion new consumers around the world, powered by the FiftyOne solution from E4X” said Michael J. Wagner, CEO of The Parent Company. “It’s an incredible opportunity for us to offer a seamless shopping experience to a global audience.”
“The FiftyOne solution will act like a ‘lens’ over our existing U.S. websites that will automatically generate customized views for international shoppers. They will experience the same high quality online shopping experience that we offer our U.S. customers, but tailored to their location,” said Jim Scherman, Vice President, Business Development and Customer Service.
International market is untapped revenue opportunity
“Enabling a U.S. retailer’s ecommerce operation for overseas sales is a major step in introducing the retailer’s brand internationally – and to a previously untapped revenue opportunity,” said Michael DeSimone, Chief Executive Officer, E4X, Inc.
“Ecommerce outside the U.S. is growing at more than 50 percent. And the historically low U.S. dollar is driving even more overseas consumers to shop U.S. retailer sites – as the 2008 holiday shopping season approaches,” he said. “Meanwhile, U.S. retailers are seeing decreasing demand and increased competition for a domestic online market that’s continuing to mature.”
The Parent Company joins Overstock.com, Anthropologie, drugstore.com, and others employing FiftyOne as their global ecommerce solution.
The FiftyOne solution will extend the existing eToys, BabyUniverse, and My Twinn websites with key international capabilities including:
- Local Country Merchandising: Website localization, guaranteed local currency product pricing, restricted product screening, and guaranteed lowest possible landed costs make international customers feel welcome.
- Multi-currency Payments: Multicurrency credit card processing, international credit card fraud protection, currency management, and USD settlement ensure customers are charged and pay in their own currency, while retailers are paid in U.S. dollars at the time of order – without foreign exchange risk.
- Global Logistics and Delivery: U.S. retailers ship to a U.S.-based hub and FiftyOne handles the customs clearance, international shipping, package tracking, and return shipping. International customers receive the lowest guaranteed landed cost for delivery to their door – with no surprise fees or surcharges.
- Post-Sale Support: FiftyOne returns management and customer service tools allow U.S. retailers to provide international shoppers with the same level of customer service provided to domestic shoppers.
For more information about the FiftyOne Global eCommerce Solution, visit www.fiftyone.com, or call 1-212-299-3577.
About E4X, Inc.
E4X, Inc. is the leading provider of technology and services that simplify global ecommerce for both retailers and consumers. The company’s FiftyOne Global Ecommerce solution manages local country merchandising, multi-currency payments, global logistics, and international customer service complexities enabling a U.S. retailer to sell to 500 million new international consumers using its existing ecommerce infrastructure. Founded in 1999, E4X is based in New York with offices in Toronto, Canada and Tel Aviv, Israel. For further information, visit http://www.e4x.com/.
About The Parent Company
The Parent Company (Nasdaq: KIDS) is a leading commerce, content and new media company for growing families. The Parent Company provides comprehensive eCommerce and eContent resources to help families plan, play and grow. The company’s toy business offers thousands of toys and children’s products through its eToys (http://www.etoys.com/) website, catalogs and strategic retail partnerships; and personalized dolls and accessories on its My Twinn (http://www.mytwinn.com/) brand. Through its baby business, the company is a leading online retailer of brand-name baby, toddler and maternity products sold through the BabyUniverse (http://www.babyuniverse.com/) and DreamtimeBaby (http://www.dreamtimebaby.com/) web sites. The company’s luxury brands, PoshTots (http://www.poshtots.com/) and PoshLiving (http://www.poshliving.com/), reach the country’s most affluent consumers with luxury baby apparel and furnishings. With its content sites, BabyTV (http://www.babytv.com/), PoshCravings (http://www.poshcravings.com/) and ePregnancy (http://www.epregnancy.com/), The Parent Company has established a recognized platform for the delivery of content and new media resources to a national audience of expectant parents. The Parent Company is a market-leading digital content and eCommerce company focused on parents.
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Public Relations contact: Tiziani Whitmyre Inc., http://www.tizinc.com/
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tional ecommerce, international online shoppers, local country merchandising, multi-currency payments, online retailer, E4X, FiftyOne, The Parent Company, eToys, BabyUniverse, My Twinn
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