CompUSA Launches New Internet Company, cozone.com; 'cozone.com ushers in a new e-commerce philosophy: c-commerce. It's all about the customer.'.MARLBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 18, 1999-- CompUSA Net.com Inc. today announced its transformation into a third-generation Web company, cozone.com Inc. The newly launched e-commerce company plans to move beyond selling computers, software and electronic gadgets and provide its customers with something extraordinary: help. Aimed directly at the wired American family American Family is a photographic artwork exhibition by Renée Cox. See also
"First- and second-generation electronic commerce attempts have succeeded at selling goods but have generally failed at satisfying customers," said Stephen Polley, chairman and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of cozone.com, a wholly owned subsidiary Wholly Owned Subsidiary A subsidiary whose parent company owns 100% of its common stock. Notes: In other words, the parent company owns the company outright and there are no minority owners. of CompUSA Inc. "We started armed with extensive research and the know-how of our parent company, CompUSA, and built cozone.com totally around the customer. The result is a new generation Web company. We like to think of it as `c-commerce.' It's all about the customer." To support the launch of this new venture, the company has embarked on a multi-million dollar "cozone.com: We can help" national marketing campaign. The campaign includes TV, radio, print, PR and interactive components. It features celebrities desperately--and humorously--trying to do things they're simply not cut out for. Debut spots feature basketball star David Robinson David Robinson or Dave Robinson is a name shared by the following individuals:
 Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. messily negotiating the finer points of
a pottery wheel. The spots send home cozone.com's customer focus
with such messages as: "Buying a computer can be as difficult for
you, as it is for Trump to spin pottery. cozone.com: We can help."
Last spring CompUSA Inc., one of the country's largest computer retailers, announced the formation of a stand-alone Web-based retailing unit--complete with separate headquarters, organization, and an all-star executive lineup--to compete in the online computer retailing category, which last year totaled more than $1 billion in sales. cozone.com's executive team boasts Polley, a high tech veteran with over 25 years' experience; Michael Laskoff, former global brand director for Bertelsmann's bol.com; Charles Dean Charles "Charlie" Dean was the brother of Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, Democracy for America Chairman Jim Dean and political activist Bill Dean. In 1974, Charlie, who had been traveling through southeast Asia at the time, was captured and killed by Pathet Lao , a former partner at Andersen Consulting See Accenture. with extensive experience in implementing complex e-commerce operations; Iang Jeon, former senior vice president of e-commerce at Scudder Kemper Investments; and Rosemary Kludt, former head of L.L. Bean's award-winning international customer service center. "We believe that electronic retailing is fundamentally different than the bricks-and-mortar model and offers great growth potential," said James F. Halpin, president and CEO of CompUSA. "We formed a team of seasoned executives and empowered them to create a totally new powerhouse e-tailing brand. The result is cozone.com, which I believe represents the next-stage customer shopping experience online." cozone.com: A Site For Shoppers "This is not an `eye candy' site," said Polley. "We've invested a lot of time, energy and resources into finding out what customers really need and want. We've incorporated this wealth of information into every aspect of the site - and focused it all on our customers' priorities." The site's architecture directly corresponds to input received by customers in extensive research conducted nationally over the last nine months. These features of the debut cozone.com service include: -0-
Customers wanted ... ... cozone.com delivers
-- Product Information -- Extensive buying guides and
product information configured
for easy, product-by-product
comparisons.
-- Speed -- Site designed to minimize wait
time.
-- Help -- Automated order status updated
and accessible 24 hours per day,
7 days a week, available via
phone or Web.
-- More Help -- Navigation via "bread crumbs".
The system tracks each user's
path throughout the site and
allows "one click" return to
prior pages.
-- Even More Help -- Live call center (Mon.-Sun.)
with real people who receive
incentives to help customers,
not sell products.
-- Capacity & Availability -- World-class Web hosting from
IBM Global Services.
-- Ease-Of-Use -- Natural language search
featuring a synonym library that
can help customers find what
they want.
-- Easy Ordering -- Customers can place orders
online or via phone. It's their
choice.
-- Help Me Shop! -- Gift certificates and automated
"bot" assistants that will fetch
products and provide
information, including product
comparisons.
Success Thru Partnership cozone.com has gone to great lengths to ensure success in setting the standard in customer service online. The company secured a series of key strategic partnerships to create the site's underlying architecture and interface. This collaboration features aggressive use of BroadVision One-To-One(TM) Retail Commerce solution for its robust personalization Custom tailoring information to the individual. On the Web, personalization means returning a page that has been customized for the user, taking into consideration that person's habits and preferences. and transaction engines, as well as support for large volumes of personalized per·son·al·ize tr.v. per·son·al·ized, per·son·al·iz·ing, per·son·al·iz·es 1. To take (a general remark or characterization) in a personal manner. 2. To attribute human or personal qualities to; personify. transactions. Leveraging BroadVision, cozone.com will deliver an experience that will include individual customer profiles, purchasing behavior, customized content and screen formats - all while offering advanced customer-centric applications. cozone.com has also partnered with IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) to host the site, ensuring high availability Also called "RAS" (reliability, availability, serviceability) or "fault resilient," it refers to a multiprocessing system that can quickly recover from a failure. There may be a minute or two of downtime while one system switches over to another, but processing will continue. and room for growth. About BroadVision BroadVision, Inc. (Nasdaq:BVSN BVSN Broadvision, Inc. (stock abbreviation, AMEX) ) is the leading worldwide supplier of e-business applications for relationship management across the extended enterprise. BroadVision's end-to-end solutions (jargon) end-to-end solution - (E2ES) A term that suggests that the supplier of an application program or system will provide all the hardware and/or software components and resouces to meet the customer's requirement and no other supplier need be involved. Compare: turn-key solution. enable companies to rapidly deploy and cost-effectively operate secure, scalable, intelligent, and flexible e-business applications for e-commerce, financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. and knowledge management. BroadVision is headquartered in Redwood City Redwood City, city (1990 pop. 66,072), seat of San Mateo co., W Calif., on San Francisco Bay; inc. 1868. Manufactures include commmunications, electrical, electronic, and medical equipment. , Calif. and can be reached at (650) 261-5100 or at www.broadvision.com. About IBM IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate in·no·vate v. in·no·vat·ed, in·no·vat·ing, in·no·vates v.tr. To begin or introduce (something new) for or as if for the first time. v.intr. To begin or introduce something new. . IBM is the only company that can provide end-to-end solutions that include hardware, software, and services, offering an unmatched understanding of how businesses conduct their operations, and outstanding technical expertise to help transform any company into an e-business. The fastest way to get more information about IBM is through http://www.ibm.com/e-business. About cozone.com cozone.com, a CompUSA company, is headquartered in Marlborough, MA and is the wholly owned Internet retailing subsidiary of CompUSA Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :CPU CPU in full central processing unit Principal component of a digital computer, composed of a control unit, an instruction-decoding unit, and an arithmetic-logic unit. ), one of the nation's leading retailers and resellers of personal computers and related products and services. cozone.com provides customers with one of the widest ranges of products for use in the home, home office, small office and on the road. cozone.com is committed to providing the highest levels of customer service and best of breed e-tailing technology in the industry. For more information on cozone.com, visit their website at www.cozone.com. Safe Harbor Safe Harbor 1. A legal provision to reduce or eliminate liability as long as good faith is demonstrated. 2. A form of shark repellent implemented by a target company acquiring a business that is so poorly regulated that the target itself is less attractive. Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995: This news release contains forward-looking statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. about the business, financial condition, and prospects of cozone.com Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of CompUSA Inc. The actual results of cozone.com Inc. could differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements because of various risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, changes in product demand, the availability of products, changes in competition, economic conditions, various inventory risks due to changes in market conditions and other risks. All of the foregoing risks and uncertainties are beyond the ability of cozone.com Inc to control, and in many cases, cozone.com Inc. cannot predict the risks and uncertainties that could cause its actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements. When used in this news release, the words "believes," "anticipates," "expects" and similar expressions as they relate to cozone.com Inc. or its management are intended to identify forward-looking statements. |
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