Tech-Know Media
Mountain View, California
Highlights:
Provides Web-based retail automation solutions for pricing, inventory and accounting, as well as personalized shopping services.
Background:
Tech-Know Media is a privately-held company dedicated to the development of client/server, hybrid CD and Tabriz active-agent applications, as well as multimedia and new products.
Tech-Know Media focuses on identifying opportunities to increase the effectiveness of Web sites and communications, and developing new products and implementing innovative technologies to address those needs. Specifically, in response to customer inquiries for added Web site and database functionality, Tech-Know Media has researched new ways to leverage communications using intelligent agent technology.
"From the outset, we had envisioned a modular approach to agent development where active applications could be created and later extended by adding new specialized agents," said Donna Merrill, general partner of Tech-Know Media. "After reviewing General Magic's mobile agent concepts and technology, we were convinced that the company was on the right track and joined their developer's program shortly thereafter."
A key focus of Tech-Know Media's research has been comprehending the barriers to success of electronic commerce in the retail industry. They realized that since the methodologies for creating success within electronic commerce are still evolving, it has been difficult to pinpoint why Internet purchasing has not gained greater momentum, to date.
Tech-Know Media has identified several areas which may be hindering online commercial success for retail trade. For example, Internet malls, like their real-world counterparts, currently have limited appeal for 18-35 year olds. The onus is on retailers, many of whom are still evaluating whether the Internet is a viable commercial medium, to develop ways to improve communications and increase awareness within this market. In addition, women, who make up 70% of consumers, are not being marketed to effectively via the Web. And, locating products and information via search engines can be time consuming.
Application:
Despite these challenges, at-home shopping has the potential of being a less-stressful, more effective way of shopping. Consequently, Tech-Know Media is developing an active application for retail stores that will be available both as a stand-alone kiosk for in-store customers and as a Web site.
The application, which will be launched to a select group of retailers later this year, contains many compelling features such as an inviting graphical user interface and online ordering capabilities. Tabriz agents personalize the experience for retail customers based on their profile, demographics and purchasing history.
Persistence and active are key features of Tabriz used in Tech-Know Media's Web-based solution. In the application, Tabriz agents persistently keep an ongoing purchasing history of each individual shopper and actively notify the shopper when new products are available that would appeal to that shopper's preferences. These features are also important when a retailer is out-of-stock on a desired item: agents can be dispatched to locate the item in other store inventories, notify the shopper when the item is found and even make the purchase on behalf of the shopper if instructed to do so.
"Our Tabriz application doesn't just do online transactions, it keeps a complete, private record on each shopper -- with their permission of course. It stores things like size, color, and shipping preferences and leverages that information to optimize convenience to the shopper," said Merrill. "At the same time, our Tabriz-based application is very sensitive to privacy issues. Tabriz agents only deliver the data to the retailer that is necessary to complete a transaction. Our goal is to make it a win-win situation, where retailers can learn why they gained or lost a sale and shoppers can retain their anonymity."
Tech-Know sees many opportunities for active, persistent applications and believes that these types of applications will play a strategic role in enabling the Internet to be a successful vehicle for commerce. The pervasiveness of the Web, plus the ability to create applications based on consumers' personal preferences, give businesses the power to shift marketing consciousness from being transaction-oriented to being relationship-oriented.
Benefits:
Tabriz agents can be designed with a personality, based on the demographics of a customer and retail sponsor, to make agent interaction more personable and friendly. Over time, these agents can grow more intuitive as they make suggestions, record reasons for declining/accepting a suggestion and compare available choices with the customer's past selections.
Active applications give consumers control of information while providing a venue to stimulate dialogue between vendor and customer. And, consumers can control how they get information. Tabriz agents can be easily programmed to signal pagers and send email/fax notifications.
Web site creators can keep their applications current and competitive. Tabriz open, extensible architecture makes adding enhancements and new features to an active application easy.
For more information:
Donna Merrill
Tech-Know Media
(415) 948-5053
email: creativity@tech-know.com