Endeca-Powered Storefronts Dominate the Top 100 Retail Web Sites For Second Consecutive Year

The top 100 retail sites, as measured by Web-only sales in 2004, were compiled as part of the new Top 400 Guide to retailing Web sites by Internet Retailer magazine (www.internetretailer.com).

Despite several major changes over 2003’s top 100 ranking -- many newcomers to the list and significant movement by start-ups and venerable retailers, alike – previous and new Endeca-powered sites dominated the list for the second consecutive year.

This trend by the top U.S. retail organisations is being mirrored in the UK and European retail markets. High profile organisations such as Tesco, Bol.com, Comet, Littlewoods, Lastminute.com, and Wehkamp, amongst others, are using Endeca InFront to power their online search and navigation facilities.

First unveiled in late 2001, the Endeca InFront e-commerce search, navigation and merchandising solution has experienced incredibly rapid adoption by the world’s most successful and innovative online and multi-channel retailers.

More than a simple search engine, the software gives retailers a robust and easily managed solution to create a customized and compelling shopping experience – one that consistently delivers increased browser-to-buyer conversion rates and higher average order value.

The Endeca InFront solution is now used by nearly 100 online and multi-channel retail leaders like 1-800-Flowers.com, Barnes & Noble, Bol.com (the Netherlands), Crate & Barrel, Circuit City, CompUSA, Eddie Bauer, Kmart (Sears Holding Corp.), Hallmark, The Home Depot, Overstock.com, Patagonia, Tesco, Walmart.com and Wehkamp (the Netherlands).

"The continuing success of Endeca InFront in the retail space is due to experience gained working with the world’s best retailers," said Jim Baum, president and CEO of Endeca. "The evolution of both the product and our practices are based on the real needs and collective experiences of the most innovative, successful and demanding merchants. The end result is a proven solution that remains head and shoulders above anything else in the marketplace."

Endeca InFront combines highly accurate search with Guided Navigation, a next-generation approach that categorizes search results by product attributes like price, category, department and more – giving consumers the ability to quickly hone searches by the shopping criteria most relevant to their needs.

Endeca InFront also features dynamic merchandising capabilities to help retailers promote and cross-sell relevant featured products, brands and offers based on a shopper’s search terms or browse path.

In addition, Endeca InFront allows the integration and promotion of other contextually relevant content and information (product guides, instructional materials, important consumer information) that help to drive consumer confidence and encourages sales.

About Endeca
Endeca’s award-winning Guided Navigation, Enterprise Search, and Analysis solutions help organizations integrate, discover, and navigate enterprise data to solve business problems associated with information overload. Endeca’s customers include a wide range of enterprises, including retailers (Barnes & Noble, The Home Depot, Walmart.com); financial services (Bank of America, MFS Investment Management, Putnam Investments); manufacturing and distribution (IBM, Arrow Electronics, John Deere); media and publishing (World Book and IHS) and government (the Library of Congress, NASA, the National Cancer Institute). Endeca is a private company headquartered in Cambridge, MA. More information: www.endeca.com or info@endeca.com.

About Internet Retailer
Published by Chicago-based Vertical Web Media LLC, Internet Retailer is a monthly national business magazine and web site serving the retailing community. It focuses on the Internet’s vital role in a wide array of retailing activities, including web merchandising, supply chain management and multi-channel integration. Its 34,000 subscribers are senior executives from retail chains, independent stores, catalogues, web-only merchants and brand name manufacturers. Internet Retailer’s circulation represents the largest multi-channel readership base of any retailing magazine. The magazine also publishes the most widely read e-mail newsletter in retailing, IRNewsLink, which is distributed three times weekly to 33,000 opt-in subscribers. For complete details or to order the Top 400 Guide, visit InternetRetailer.com.

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Endeca, Endeca InFront, Endeca Navigation Engine and Guided Navigation are registered trademarks, and Endeca ProFind and Endeca Latitude are trademarks of Endeca Technologies, Inc. All other product and service names mentioned herein are or may be registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective companies or organizations.


UK Contact:
Paul Calderwood
Kingswood Public Relations
020 8763 2241
kingswoodmktg@btinternet.com

US Contacts:
Craig VerColen
Endeca
617-577-7999
cvercolen@endeca.com

Kurt Peters,
Editor in Chief
Internet Retailer
312-362-9529
kurt@verticalwebmedia.com