|
FAO Schwartz adds a commerce cubed component amid a site revamp |
| FAO Schwarz will add one
of the most significant commerce cubed components, live help, to its
site in time for this holiday season. The company has selected
technology from FaceTime Communications to provide live help through
instant messaging.
FAO.COM customers will soon be able to interact with an FAO customer service representative live via an embedded text-messaging window or via other instant messenger tools such as AOL Instant Messenger. Live help is one of a number of C3 or Commerce Cubed components identified in our 2000-3 report this spring. C3 is the name the eRetail Association gave to a comprehensive strategy for achieving online retail success based upon a number of critical components. The technology from FaceTime enables both the FAO customer service representative and the customer to exchange instant text messages while the customer is reviewing relevant Web pages on FAO.COM. This is just one of a number of changes FAO Schwartz is implementing to improve its site this season. The site has been redeveloped to offer consumers a more unique, robust and interactive online shopping experience. An improved, easy-to-navigate interface, and advanced search capabilities are just a few of the more obvious changes. Real-time inventory management will help ensure customers know what is available, and an interactive "Virtual Playroom'' lets visitors browse products in 3D using technology from Pulse. Using the Allaire Internet Business Platform and custom-developed middleware from PageDigital, marchFIRST built FAO.com to offer consumers a more intuitive and improved online shopping experience. Advanced search capabilities include searches using key word, toy category, brand, character, age, gender, price and FAO exclusive merchandise. In addition to the product offerings listed on the site, consumers can also purchase other items found in the FAO Schwarz "Ultimate Toy Catalogue.'' The site now offers "persistent shopping.'' With it, customers can now select from an array of items, add them to their cart and come back at a later date to pick up where they left off and complete their purchase. As a little pre-holiday gift to its customers FAO.com is offering an interactive screensaver available for free download from the site. The famous FAO Schwarz Clock Tower is the star attraction of this screensaver. The clock functions as a working timekeeper, displaying the actual date of the computer it's running on. The screensaver also includes animated characters, which respond to rollovers with a mouse, and seasonal animations that are pre-programmed to display in accordance with associated dates. Voice Your Opinion!
|
Updated: 17 Feb 2006 .
