With the advent of Internet shopping through the 1990's, big retailers like Saks Fifth Avenue were jumping on the bandwagon and creating web sites where customers could buy everything from designer clothes to pricey hand lotions. And buy they did—Saks began doing a brisk online business soon after getting its web site up and running. But impulse buys were down!

1. Case Study
ChannelNet® reinvents the
shopping experience for
Saks Fifth Avenue customers.
HIGHLIGHTS Ten years ago, when everyone was purchases driven by immediate, tactile
enthusiastically applauding the advent of experiences. The feel of a cashmere cardigan,
• Microsites allow each Saks Internet shopping—“It’s so easy!” “It’s so for instance, that makes slipping it over your
Fifth Avenue store to have its own
convenient!”—big retailers like Saks Fifth shoulders—and bringing it up to the cashier—
website, featuring local events
and promotions. Avenue were jumping on the bandwagon and irresistible. Or the sudden realization that you
creating enormous websites where customers need a new wallet just as you are passing the
• Hundreds of microsites were could buy everything from designer clothes to Hermès display and you breathe in that fresh
created on the existing J2EE Saks pricey hand lotions. And buy they did—Saks new leather aroma. You can’t replicate these
web platform and using the existing
began doing a brisk online business almost things on a website.
Saks web design, keeping costs
down and providing a seamless immediately after getting its website up and
click-through experience for running. Although Saks’ web sales were rising,
customers. their bottom line was not. What to do?
Then reality set in. It didn’t take long before ChannelNet had the ideas, the know-how
• The new microsites act as a portal top management began noticing something and the technology to come up with the right
to Saks’ brick-and-mortar locations,
not so great about the New Shopping answers, implement a solution, and empower
enticing customers to come in and
shop for more than one item at Experience. When customers walk into a Saks Saks’ stores to take charge of their own
a time. Fifth Avenue brick-and-mortar store, they revenue-boosting programs ever since.
spend an average of $154 above and beyond
• By capturing online customers’ the item they came in to buy. On the Internet? A novel idea: driving web shoppers
email addresses, Saks can make
It just wasn’t happening. into the stores.
sure customers hear about store
events and promotions even if they
don’t visit the website. You can’t beat the smell of leather. ChannelNet took on the Saks Fifth Avenue
challenge with its signature combination
The management team at Saks quickly of strategic thinking, creativity and
realized that there’s no substitute for impulse technological innovation. We asked
© 2006 ChannelNet. All Rights Reserved.

2. ourselves, what do Saks Fifth Avenue in-store events. This means that customers
customers want? Quality merchandise, don’t even have to be shopping online to
obviously. Good service, definitely. know when their local Saks Fifth Avenue store
Convenience, for sure. is having a special sale, a holiday event, or
opening a new café. By staying top-of-mind
But they also want something else that the with their customers, Saks builds loyalty
Internet can’t give them: the experience of and stronger customer relationships—not to
shopping at Saks and a personal relationship mention stronger sales
with their local store and its salespeople. So,
we decided to use the Saks website to drive Our SiteBuilder™ technology made it
customers into the stores, as well as letting all happen fast.
them shop online.
Creating hundreds of microsites would have
Microsites that perform and entice. cost a couple of hundred thousand dollars if
Saks had tried to do this the traditional way.
Our solution began with creating a more But ChannelNet’s SiteBuilder™ technology
targeted store locator and hundreds of allowed us to deploy all those websites, with
microsites, so that each local Saks Fifth full functionality, at a fraction of that cost.
Avenue and Off-Fifth store has its own landing
page. Now Saks’ Cincinnati customers can We built the new sites on Saks’ existing
feel that they are shopping at the Saks they J2EE web platform, keeping costs down
know and love in Cincinnati or San Francisco. and providing a seamless click-through
experience for online customers. ChannelNet
Even better, each microsite allows local even kept Saks’ original web design intact,
stores to post special in-store events and transferring it to the SiteBuilder™ platform for
promotions. So while you may have gone new functionality and easy administration.
online to buy a pair of gloves for your
brother’s birthday, you’re going to quickly find In fact, SiteBuilder is so easy to use that we
out that there’s a fashion show featuring the were able to train 60-plus administrators,
new fall collection of your favorite designer at using one-hour Webinar sessions, on our
your local Saks store this coming Saturday. system in just one week! SiteBuilder™
Each microsite calls for customers to enter allows store personnel to easily post special
their e-mail addresses to find out about events, holiday hours, new promotions and
© 2006 ChannelNet. All Rights Reserved.

3. more, without having to wait for the IT staff to
become available.
Saks Fifth Avenue built their business on
retail stores, and, as it turns out, stores
are still their most profitable venue. With
ChannelNet’s help, they’re using technology
to get their customers through those front
doors again—ready, willing and eager to buy.
ABOUT CHANNELNET
For 21 years ChannelNet has created
multichannel solutions that help
companies sell complex products and
services through traditional sales
channels. Each solution is developed
with its patent-pending software prod-
uct, ChannelNet SiteBuilder™, which
significantly reduces the costs and
development time of custom solutions.
As a full-service company, ChannelNet
also offers expert professional services
for everything from multichannel
sales strategies and best practices to
dedicated solution support. The pri-
vately-held company is based outside
San Francisco in Mill Valley, California,
with offices in Detroit, Michigan.
ChannelNet
100 Shoreline Hwy.
Building B, Suite 300
Mill Valley, CA 94941
Tel. 800-677-6858
Fax 415-332-1635
Email: sales@channelnet.com
www.channelnet.com
© 2006 ChannelNet. All Rights Reserved.