Shop at many retailers, one simple payment

Ferrit 2.0: One Cart Fits All

Shop at many retailers, one simple payment

Auckland, Thursday 23 November 2006 – Just launched, Ferrit 2.0 is a completely new version of New Zealand’s popular online mall, ferrit.co.nz.
The biggest single change in the total redesign is the introduction of a single, mall-wide shopping cart.

Consumers can browse through stores, search for items, compare prices, features and attributes, check on retailers’ guarantees and returns policies, select products, load them into their shopping cart, arrange shipping, and then, when they’ve done, pay for them all by entering their credit card details once. After the goods are ordered customers can track delivery status and, when their credit card bill arrives, it will be split out by retailer.

Today shoppers can place products from almost half of the 95 retailers currently operating on Ferrit into their shopping cart. And more retailers will be added and more will switch to the Ferrit shopping cart from today. Goods from all retailers, including those who do not yet have a shopping cart, are available through the retailers’ websites or in stores.

“Our vision from the outset has been to build the best possible online mall where Kiwis can go to find, choose and buy new products in New Zealand,” says Ferrit General Manager, Ralph Brayham. “We’re aiming to be the first place people visit when they have a shopping need, the Google of online shopping in New Zealand.”

“This is the first time in New Zealand that such a large range of products is available to buy from at one site,” says Brayham. “No one else has taken this approach of bringing a large number of leading retailers together in a single mall, providing a single shopping cart and paying with a single credit card entry to simplify purchasing and delivery for customers.”

As well as a single shopping cart, Ferrit 2.0 features a number of other enhancements which make searching and comparing faster, easier and more flexible and improve the overall online shopping experience. Tools like Wish Lists and Gift Grabber have been expanded, streamlined and made more responsive to shoppers’ preferences.

With 1.5 million products from more than 90 retailers in 2,500 product categories, people can use Ferrit to buy everything from robomowers to MP3 players, barbecues to buoyancy compensators, intercom kitsets to tartan ties.
After researching the things they want on Ferrit, shoppers can choose how they purchase the goods: at the retailer’s store; through the retailer’s website; or online at Ferrit.

While consumers will see a new shopping cart and the enhanced Wish Lists, Gift Grabber and search and compare tools, the technology behind the scenes is also enhanced – increasing the speed with which Ferrit can add new retailers and the flexibility it has to work with them.

“Like any new large-scale retail development Ferrit is rolling out in stages,” says Brayham. “We started one year ago with a simple idea – making high quality online shopping available in New Zealand. Our first stage was simply about getting a web site up and running and attracting a critical mass of retailers.

“The next step was to build a sustainable business. That requires the support and active participation of New Zealand’s leading retailers; a world class e-commerce web site; the backing of a credible, committed organisation; and consumers ready to buy new products online.

“With Ferrit 2.0, we’re about to move to a whole new level. Last week we had a website. Today we have a business.”

And with over 1,000 retailers expressing interest in being on the site, Ferrit is poised to rapidly grow the number of retailers represented.
Ferrit is already hard at work on additional features and enhancements to the site, continuing the drive to make it quick and convenient for New Zealanders to shop online for new goods.

Ferrit recorded 168,202 unique browsers in October 2006 and 176,929 in September 2006.
Security

To protect its customers Ferrit 2.0 supports secure credit transactions based on the international PCIDSS standard (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard). It uses Secure Socket Layer transactions, which mean that exchanges between customers and the server are secure, and any data transferred during the payments process cannot be interfered with or read by unauthorised third parties.

Software and implementation

Ferrit 2.0 was built with ePages software, an ecommerce application for use on hosting platforms, which Ferrit adapted to meet the needs of New Zealand consumers and retailers. ePages storefront technology operates in over 30,000 installations worldwide.

The software provides Ferrit with a platform for hosting an unlimited number of shops on a single software instance. Ferrit performs the technical administration, and retailers administer their shops using an intuitively designed back office accessed through a standard internet browser.

ENDS