The probability of an e-commerce site being a real success is likely to be limited if the customer cannot find the initial information they want within three clicks! In the same way the possibility of up-selling or cross-selling is significantly reduced if the buyer cannot navigate by questioning "the catalogue" or simply by asking more general questions, as you would do with a sales person in a traditional store? First generation search engines have proved themselves counter productive. Often not recognising key words, the Search can return completely inadequate results, a typical example being that a product clearly referred to on the site is seemingly not actually on sale, the equivalent to a sales person making a customer leave the store.

It is essential that visitors to the site find the information they want quickly. Asking a potential or returning customer to navigate incoherent directory structures is unacceptable. Delivering precise results quickly ensures retention.

Offering guided navigation to website visitors maximises the Visit-to-Purchase conversion rate, ensures far greater customer satisfaction, the likelihood of return visits and potential for up-sell.

Benefits of the AMI solution

AMI's Guided Navigation solution for e-Commerce integrates a very powerful Search capability able to find quickly, by similarity and proximity calculation, the information sought by a visitor. It use's an original and highly detailed document identification technology called the Document Signature which guarantee's very high levels of relevance in the answers returned. Entirely automatic in operation, AMI solutions combine performance with ease of use and very low operational costs.

AMI's Guided Navigation allow the user and site owner to:

• Search in free text with broad tolerance for typing errors and abbreviations and product acronym’s, for example, an item by its inventory reference or brand name without necessarily knowing the manufacturer.
  
  
• Define preferential pages, promoting certain products, pages and information.
  
  
• Search across multiple indexes, which could represent multiple “stores” or data sources, understanding user search strategies and promoting certain parts of the site or specific products.
  
  
• Enhance very short or ambiguous requests by taking into account a visitors previous searches and navigation.
  
  
• Guarantee up to date information as a result of real time indexation
  
  
• Propose similar answers if the exact answer doesn’t exist, in order to maintain customer interest and maximise retention.
  
  
• Utilise tools of Analysis to analyse questions submitted and define precisely the best way to meet a customers future requirements.
  
  
• Offer a global vision of all the information available that answers a visitors question providing the sought after information with one click.
  
  
• Guarantee an increasing level of relevance in the answers showing the visitor that their request has been understood.

For CIO's and IT Directors, AMI Guided Navigation solutions integrate easily without having to change IT infrastructure and are developed with respect for industry standards (XML, HTTP,..). Adding new data sources is easy; specific search interfaces can also easily be created and modified to ensure the site is always providing customers with what they want and meeting service level targets.

For Chief Executives, AMI Guided Navigation is an investment that shows very fast return by guaranteeing quick and accurate access to relevant site content. For e-commerce sites AMI Guided Navigation is a proven "order accelerator"!

The AMI Product Offering

AMI's Guided Navigation solution for internet sites utilises all the functional and technical capabilities of AMI Enterprise Discovery allowing numerous possibilities in terms of integration and personalisation, definition of parameters, referenced search engines, and specialised interfaces.

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