OfficeMax Launches Product Advisor Stations From Active Decisions

Market Wire, November, 2004

Active Decisions, the leading provider of Guided Selling solutions for business-to-consumer companies, today announced that its Active Advisor(TM) solution has just been deployed in 40 Chicago-area OfficeMax stores. OfficeMax®, a leader in business-to-business and retail office products, selected Active Decisions to improve its customers' buying experience and the depth of product knowledge of sales associates in helping these customers. The deployments leverage the power of OfficeMax kiosks to engage its customers, and ultimately close sales, as effectively as its most seasoned sales associates. Active Advisor kiosks are available for shoppers to use in a "self-service" mode, assisting them in choosing the products that best fits their specific needs, and in a "shoulder-to-shoulder" mode with sales associates, giving shoppers a blend of personal insights and deep product content to help pinpoint the right product for them. It also facilitates cross-selling so that customers get all that they need to meet their goals in buying that product, and sales associates are able to increase the average basket size of sales that they drive.

"We have a relentless focus on meeting our customers' needs. Equipping our sales associates with the knowledge and confidence to assess the needs of each shopper and find exactly the right product delivers a positive experience for the customer," said Ryan Vero, executive vice president of merchandising for OfficeMax. "The Active Advisor technology increases the effectiveness and productivity of all our sales associates."

"OfficeMax is one of the first retailers in the U.S. to take advantage of the new, more engaging guided selling capabilities of the 8.0 version of Active Advisor," said Darby Williams, Vice President of Marketing at Active Decisions.

About OfficeMax

OfficeMax is a leader in both business-to-business office product solutions and retail office products. OfficeMax delivers an unparalleled customer experience -- in service, in product, in time-savings, and in value -- through a relentless focus on its customers. The company provides office supplies and paper, technology products and solutions, and furniture to large, medium and small businesses and consumers. OfficeMax customers are served by more than 40,000 associates through direct sales, catalogs, Internet and nearly 1,000 superstores. Having joined with Boise Office Solutions, the company had pro forma revenues of $8.3 billion in 2003. OfficeMax is a division of Boise Cascade Corporation.

About Active Decisions

Active Decisions is the leading provider of business-to-consumer Guided Selling solutions for the retail, financial services, electronics and telecom industries. Active's solutions increase revenues by significantly enhancing the buying experience for consumers and the selling experience for employees. These solutions leverage the power of a company's website, kiosk, desktop and handheld platforms in order to engage end users, and ultimately close sales, as effectively as their most seasoned salesperson. The underlying technology actually simulates the actions of a friendly, all-knowing salesperson -- helping end-users find exactly what they are seeking while realizing more satisfaction from the experience. Active Decisions offers these solutions both in a "self-service" mode, as a stand-alone guided selling tool, and in a "salesperson-assist" mode, significantly increasing the salesperson's ability to pinpoint the customer's needs and quickly access the relevant product information to make the sale. The result is higher sales, reduced employee training time and cost, and longer-term, more profitable customer relationships.

More information on Active Decisions can be found at www.activedecisions.com or by calling Darby Williams, VP of Marketing, at (650) 245-2183. For sales, please call 650-342-0500 x1.

For More Information: Darby Williams VP of Marketing 650-245-2183