LONDON, UK, -- October 15, 2003 -- Tesco, the UK's leading supermarket, has announced the deployment of intuitive search and navigation technology from search specialist Endeca to improve customer service on its Tesco.com Web site . Endeca InFront, Endeca's advanced customer- facing Guided Navigation and search solution, is being deployed across the Wine Warehouse section of the site.
"Tesco.com offers one of the finest selections of wines from around the world, and customers can now fully explore our online warehouse without ever getting lost," said Mike McNamara, CTO, Tesco.com. "By using Endeca InFront with Guided Navigation to power our integrated search and navigation facility, it's now a lot easier for customers to find their favourite 'tipple', or something new and exciting from our cellar."
"We wanted the site to function like a personal wine merchant, helping our customers find the right wine to suit their palate and their wallet." added McNamara. "Endeca's InFront enhances the customer experience and allows us to match more customers with more great wine offers. We expect to improve sales, increase average order size and generate repeat business."
Endeca InFront enables Tesco's customers to explore its extensive wine list using a series of intuitively designed search criteria. Criteria include colour, price, country of origin, grape type and description. The software prompts users on what to do next in their search, with 'drop-down' options, providing a more user friendly and valuable service than other search engines. As such, the software mimics intuitive brain processes and ensures that only the most appropriate information is delivered to users, eliminating the infuriating 'million or none' results found scenario.
"We are delighted to partner with Tesco, the UK's best known supermarket brand, offering a greater degree of customer interaction and service across its online Wine Warehouse," said Steve Papa, CEO and Founder, Endeca. "Announcing a flagship user in the shape of Tesco is a significant step for Endeca as we continue to expand in the European market."
Endeca's Guided Navigation provides an intuitive search model that eliminates irrelevant information, and dynamically provides customers with relevant and valid product choices. This is in contrast to conventional "query and response" approaches to search, which tend to place the burden on the user to structure queries in a way that the search facility understands.
About Tesco
Tesco is the number one retailer in the UK with 780 stores. Worldwide, Tesco has over 1,000 stores in 10 countries across central Europe, south east Asia and Ireland.
