White Plains, New York-based Prodigy Services Co has signed Los Altos, California software company BroadVision Inc to launch a Virtual Mall on the Internet. The mall, built specifically for personalised, one-to-one shopping on the World Wide Web, will be launched to Prodigy members in the first quarter of 1996. It will be the first live use of BroadVision’s One-To-One application system for on-line marketing and selling, and will be built in HyperText Mark-up Language, the language of the Internet. A grand opening of the Virtual Mall for the entire Internet community is set for later in 1996. Participating retailers include J C Penney & Co, Lands End Inc, Sears, Roebuck & Co, PC Gifts & Gourmet, Computer Express and OfficeMax Inc. The Prodigy Pledge, a 30-day money-back guarantee, applies to all purchases made on the Virtual Mall. Members can design their own shopping profile, which then alerts them to things they might want to buy. For example, based on profile information, golf information and merchandise could be directed to golf enthusiasts, flower and gifts to last-minute shoppers, and office supplies to small business owners. The BroadVision One-To-One Personal Sales Assistant helps on-line shoppers by linking Virtual Mall profiles to appropriate products and services and managing shopping transactions and usage patterns throughout a shopper’s history with the Virtual Mall. For retailers building storefronts for the Virtual Mall, the BroadVision One-To-One application product offers the ability to integrate existing inventory, pricing, fulfillment, and advertising databases and applications directly with their on-line stores. Merchandisers can also create and modify personalised merchandising and sales promotions 24 hours a day with the BroadVision software, according to the company.
