LOS ANGELES, June 21, 2000 (PRIMEZONE) -- MVALUE.com, Inc., the Internet company that places control of personal online information into the hands of consumers and pays its members cash for personal data, and Control Commerce Inc., the developers of the patent-pending "Virtual Kiosksm" System, today announced the formation of a strategic alliance. The Virtual Kiosk System enables businesses to maximize their online advertising, merchandising and selling opportunities. The alliance will help advertisers solve their most pressing direct marketing challenges -- converting viewers of online ads into buyers and reducing the high costs of customer acquisition.
The Virtual Kiosk System allows Web surfers to click on a banner, button or e-mail to view merchandise or special offers and then immediately place an order without leaving the Web site they are visiting. Once an ad is clicked, a pop-up box appears on the screen allowing the customer to complete a transaction in just two clicks, compared to the six to eight clicks it normally takes to complete an online transaction. (Industry experts report that every click leads to a 15% drop off rate.) Once the transaction is completed, the pop-up box vanishes and the surfer remains right where he/she originally responded to the ad. This rapid advertising deployment and response mechanism provides the web site with increased stickiness and greatly increases impulse buying because the potential buyer is not jettisoned away to another Web site destination to complete the transaction.
Under the terms of the agreement, MVALUE will make the Control Commerce Virtual Kiosk System available to its advertisers, who presently target the more than 250,000 MVALUE client subscribers.
"Many of our advertisers seek our advice on how to maximize their e-commerce capabilities," said Patrick Demarco, MVALUE's Vice President of Sales. "Adding, Control Commerce's Virtual Kiosk System to our offerings affords us another competitive advantage to our service."
Other benefits of the Virtual Kiosk System include a significant decrease in shopping cart abandonment, an increase in ad-to-sales conversion rates and increased impulse buying. This application will lower shopping cart abandonment rates, which are directly related to the number of clicks to complete a transaction.
"Advertisers are experiencing a decline in click-thrus and conversion rates, which increases their customer acquisition costs. The Virtual Kiosk System dramatically reduces that friction. MVALUE advertisers utilizing this new system will achieve high click-thrus and conversion rates to their ads, which will result in lower customer acquisition costs," said Glenn Morris, Vice President of Business Development at Control Commerce.
About MVALUE.com
Los Angeles-based MVALUE.com, Inc. (www.mvalue.com) was founded in 1999 to benefit online consumers and web retailers. The Company's primary application, the MVALUE Panel, serves as an online companion to consumers-protecting their privacy and enabling them to earn cash when they surf the web. Through its service, MVALUE empowers its members to selectively block cookies without slowing down surfing. The mEXCHANGE program is a marketplace for personal information that allows consumers and advertisers to directly negotiate with each other. mEXCHANGE places the control of personal information back in the hands of consumers, and provides advertisers with highly qualified data.
About Control Commerce
New York based Control Commerce (www.controlcommerce.com) is the next-generation targeted marketing ASP (application service provider). The company empowers businesses to maximize their online marketing, merchandising and selling opportunities by providing a value-added solution that increases customer response and conversions, and decreases customer acquisition costs. Utilizing the company's patent-pending "Virtual Kiosksm" system, elements such as keywords, banners, buttons and e-mails can be enabled to allow consumers to view and respond "in-site" to any type of offer quickly and seamlessly without being jettisoned to a separate Web site destination. The company has partnered with leading consumer goods marketers and service providers including BMG, 24/7 Europe, Lycos, and Cornerstone Media. Control Commerce is venture-backed by a group including Hudson Venture Partners, Waterview Partners, MacAndrews and Forbes, William E. Simon and Sons, Guthy-Renker, Millennium Hanson, and Columbus Newport. Headquartered in New York City, with its research and development office in San Diego, CA, Control Commerce is led by a team of industry veterans from highly successful Internet, computer, direct marketing, and e-commerce companies.