Inceptor Makes Convert of Bean - L.L. Bean to use Inceptor's Excedia software and services - Brief Article

Brandweek, May 14, 2001 by Sarah J. Heim

Freeport, Me.-based bricks-and-clicks retailer L.L. Bean will join the client roster of conversion-marketing software provider Inceptor, the Maynard, Mass.-based company announced today.

L.L. Bean will utilize Inceptor's Excedia software and services to strengthen the results of its overall marketing initiatives both online and offline. The Excedia tool will help L.L. Bean improve its conversion rate, said Mike Sack, Inceptor vp of product management.

The financial terms of the deal were not released, but L.L. Bean marketing manager of e-commerce Shawn Gorman said that the alliance is "a fairly low-risk investment" and a good opportunity for L.L. Bean to test out Excedia's software offering.

With Excedia, L.L Bean can access realtime measurements and analysis of all site activity and it can quantify campaign results and implement changes that will improve customer retention. Excedia is also able to capture visitor data, which can then be used by Web marketers to implement targeted e-mail campaigns to site visitors on an opt-in basis.

"We understand where people are coming from in terms of all marketing initiatives and we understand the true picture of the consumer," said Inceptor's Sack. In addition, the Excedia tool can pinpoint campaign inadequacies and recommend where L.L. Bean should be marketing to specific consumers and how to microtarget via e-mail.

As an example, Sack explained that Excedia can help L.L. Bean find customers looking for backpacks on search engines and drive them directly to the point-of-purchase page on the L.L. Bean site.

This offering, said Gorman, was what really convinced L.L. Bean to select the Excedia product. The methodology Inceptor uses to get companies ranked and get quality impressions on search engines was the best in the marketplace, Gorman said.

Search engine optimization is viewed as the last frontier for L.L. Bean, which has seen continued growth in the e-commerce space, Gorman added, and the company hopes that during the initial period of use, it will maximize its exposure and drive additional traffic to its site via the search engine medium.

Inceptor chief marketing officer Deb Pappas added that Excedia can also help figure out how to best incorporate online elements into the offline world. For example, the software can help in deciding which URL is best to use in offline promotions and which URL should be used to best optimize conversion rates.