Akademos Boosts Sales of Textbooks and Other Media with its Deployment of FAST ImPulse
Oslo, Norway (ots/PRNewswire)
- FAST ImPulse Offers Scalable eCommerce Search Solution to Replace Database Search Functionality and Provide Buyers with Highly Relevant Product Results
Fast Search & Transfer(TM) (FAST(TM)), the leading developer of enterprise search and real-time alerting technologies, announced today that Akademos, Inc., has deployed FAST ImPulse(TM) to power the search capabilities for its online retail and marketplace textbook site, TextbookX.com, as well as for Connexions, a new hosted program from Akademos that provides colleges and universities with hosted microsites to effectively manage their online bookstore sales.
Akademos' TextbookX.com is one of the largest independent online sources of new and used college textbooks, offering students the ability to both sell and buy their books. The company utilizes sophisticated peer-to-peer marketplace technology and a highly efficient distribution process, based on direct relationships with distributors and publishers, to lower the cost of textbooks and other materials dramatically for college students. The Company's new Connexions program leverages the technologies and robust supply-chain developed for TextbookX.com to provide colleges with the most effective and innovative online bookstore solutions available.
To increase user satisfaction and revenue through its TextbookX.com site and Connexions program, Akademos required a solution that would dramatically improve the shopping experience for buyers. In addition, Akademos wanted strong management controls so they could control the merchandising across all of its offerings.
Based on the FAST Enterprise Search Platform (FAST ESP(TM)), FAST ImPulse is meeting all of Akademos' requirements by enabling them to create the online equivalent of proven physical-world success models for driving revenue. Through Dynamic Merchandising and more effective search and navigation, FAST ImPulse improves the shopping experience for buyers while giving business managers precise control over how, when, and where their products are displayed. In real-time, they can create and adjust promotions, facilitate cross-sells, enable up-sells, and govern search results.
"The integration of FAST ImPulse into TextbookX.com comes at a particularly welcome moment for college students," said Brian Jacobs, President & CEO, Akademos. "Thanks to FAST-enabled search functionality, students heading back to school this fall will find not only great relief from the high cost of textbooks, but also an unprecedented ability to locate quickly what they need for class. In addition to making the shopping experience more rewarding for student buyers, FAST ImPulse will enable us and our institutional clients to drive new revenue by adjusting the display products based upon what people are buying."
Through its use of FAST ImPulse, Akademos plans to increase the number of records searched by its users from 4 million to over 10 million by the end of 2005. Unlike competing solutions, FAST's proven scalability prevents any limitations to the number of records companies need to access as their business grows.
"Online merchandisers traditionally have had a difficult time ensuring their technology infrastructure will enable them to meet tremendous growth demands, and online bookstores are especially vulnerable to this trap because they have to track such a large amount of inventory," said John M. Lervik, FAST's chief executive officer. "We're pleased that Akademos turned to FAST to help support their business growth. FAST ESP's infinite scalability and superior search functionality will provide the infrastructure for their success far into the future. "
FAST has transformed enterprise search from a powerful, yet narrowly perceived function, into an enterprise-wide strategic and tactical capability of pivotal importance. FAST ESP and FAST's portfolio of solutions and SDAs supply a complete information retrieval solution ideal for a growing number of key vertical markets and applications including e-Commerce and Internet Portals; Financial Services; Government; Life Sciences; Media and Publishing; and Telecom. For FAST, the search never stops.
About Akademos
Akademos, Inc. was founded in March 1999 by Brian Jacobs, then a professor of political philosophy at Cornell University. The company's mission is to use new media and content distribution models to democratize and advance the development and distribution of educational resources. The company operates TextbookX.com, a leading ecommerce site for the sale of new and used textbooks and other media, both through its own supply chain and through a proprietary peer-to-peer marketplace that hosts hundreds of thousands of registered members. For more information, visit: www.akademos.com.
About FAST
FAST creates the real-time search and filter technology solutions that are behind the scenes at the world's best known companies with the most demanding search problems. FAST's flexible and scalable integrated technology platform elevates the search capabilities of enterprise customers and connects people to the relevant information they seek regardless of medium. This drives revenues and reduces total cost of ownership by effectively leveraging IT infrastructure. FAST's powerful enterprise search technology solutions are used by more than 2,000 global customers and partners, including America Online (AOL), AT&T, Cardinal Health, CareerBuilder.com, Chordiant, CIGNA, CNET, Dell, Factiva, Fidelity Investments, Findexa, FirstGov.gov (GSA), IBM, Knight Ridder, LexisNexis, Overture, Rakuten, Reed Elsevier, Reuters, Sensis, Stellent, Tenet Healthcare, Thomas Industrial Networks, T-Online, US Army, Virgilio (Telecom Italia), Vodafone, and Wanadoo.
FAST is headquartered in Norway and is publicly traded under the ticker symbol 'FAST' on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The FAST Group operates globally with presence in Europe, the United States, Asia Pacific, Australia, South America, and the Middle East. For further information about FAST, please visit www.fastsearch.com.
(c) 2005 Fast Search & Transfer ASA - Fast Search & Transfer, FAST, FAST ESP, FAST Data Search, FAST Marketrac, FAST AdVisor, FAST InStream, FAST ImPulse, FAST Search Best Practices, FAST SBP, FAST ProPublish, FAST mSearch and the FAST four-colored logo are trademarks of Fast Search & Transfer ASA. All rights reserved. FAST disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.
Contact:
For more information, please contact: Fast Search & Transfer, Peter
Gorman (U.S.), Carine Zeier (Europe) +1-781-304-2495,
+47-23-01-13-47, pr@fastsearch.com, +47-48-01-13-47 (Mobile)