CornerHardware.com Unveils New Web Site for Home Improvement Industry.Business Editors/High-tech & Real Estate Writers SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 29, 2000 E-Retailer Focuses on Customer Service With 24-Hour Support, Project Advice From Expert Team, Easy-to-Follow Animations and a Wide Selection of Products CornerHardware.com today officially launched its new Web site for the $400 billion home improvement industry - placing a high priority on assisting customers with their product purchases and delivering project advice to the do-it-yourself do-it-your·self adj. Of, relating to, or designed to be done by an amateur or as a hobby: do-it-yourself home repairs; a do-it-yourself sailboat kit. customer. This consumer-centered approach is designed to alleviate Alleviate To make something easier to be endured. Mentioned in: Kinesiology, Applied the frustrations customers have with existing brick-and-mortar brick-and-mor·tar adj. Located or serving consumers in a physical facility as distinct from providing remote, especially online, services: brick-and-mortar classrooms; a brick-and-mortar bookstore. and online retailers, including inconsistent and hard to find service, limited selection, inconvenient in·con·ven·ient adj. Not convenient, especially: a. Not accessible; hard to reach. b. Not suited to one's comfort, purpose, or needs: inconvenient to have no phone in the kitchen. store hours and locations, and intimidating in·tim·i·date tr.v. in·tim·i·dat·ed, in·tim·i·dat·ing, in·tim·i·dates 1. To make timid; fill with fear. 2. To coerce or inhibit by or as if by threats. purchase decisions. The site is live and fully operational and can be accessed at www.cornerhardware.com. "There's a tremendous opportunity for the first online home improvement company that can make it easy for customers to buy the right products and show them how to use these products in the most effective way," said Rich Takata, 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. , CornerHardware.com. "The Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the is a perfect medium for our industry because it allows us to deliver consistent superior service, be available to answer questions at the same time a customer is working on a project, and offer a vast array of home improvement products to our customers." Pundits Recognize Benefits The CornerHardware.com approach is already resonating res·o·nate v. res·o·nat·ed, res·o·nat·ing, res·o·nates v.intr. 1. To exhibit or produce resonance or resonant effects. 2. with people who follow the industry. In an article in the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times that appeared on Thursday, February 24 Michelle Slatalla, author of the weekly Online Shopper feature, wrote the following after using the site's live online chat support: "After a lifetime of fearing hardware stores, I suddenly felt as if I were in the scene from 'The Wizard Instructional help in an application or system development environment that guides the user through a series of multiple choice questions to accomplish a task. For the most part, wizards are more effective than the help menus found in most applications, which often border on the atrocious. of Oz' where Dorothy's house lands in Oz and the world suddenly changes from black-and-white into a beautiful Technicolor." Unique Site Attributes During development of the site CornerHardware.com focused on creating a shopping experience that married the service of the old-fashioned corner hardware store, with the selection and convenience of the Internet. The objective was achieved with a number of unique features that clearly set it apart from other sites. These include:
-- Unmatched customer service. The site features live 24/7 customer
support; this includes access to home improvement experts,
plumbers, electricians, contractors, via real-time chats, e-mail
and telephone support.
-- Original, expert content. CornerHardware.com employs a dedicated
editorial team that includes the former editor and publisher of
American Woodworker Magazine (David Sloan), and the former
founding editor of Fine Homebuilding Magazine (Mike Litchfield).
These home improvement experts have written a wide variety of
tutorials exclusively for the site, including friendly
instructions for hundreds of do-it-yourself projects, full-length
feature articles, and buyer's guides.
-- One-stop-shop. Consumers can find all information, tools and
materials required for a project all in one location. The site is
organized in a highly efficient way that lets customers click on
links that connect products with related information, and comes
with a multi-functional glossary and tools and materials lists
that enables users to quickly find, define, compare, and buy a
wide array of products.
-- Robust community. Feedback from other customers can play a key
role in a consumer's purchase decision. CornerHardware.com is
helping to foster a home improvement community online, and
providing communications tools that include message boards, user
reviews, and instant messaging.
-- Superior performance. The site is hosted on Sun Enterprise
Servers which can easily scale up to support all traffic to the
site and deliver fast performance.
About CornerHardware.com Founded in early 1999, CornerHardware.com expects to be the leading home improvement destination on the Internet for the do-it-yourself, buy-it-yourself and professional customer. The company's goal is to provide the most complete online selection of home improvement help and advice, hardware, tools, and other related goods and services In economics, economic output is divided into physical goods and intangible services. Consumption of goods and services is assumed to produce utility (unless the "good" is a "bad"). It is often used when referring to a Goods and Services Tax. . CornerHardware.com is based in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden . |
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