novomind AG and OTTO launch joint e-shopping platform

New e-shop platform puts pressure on established retailers  
novomind and OTTO are launching their own e-shopping platform: novomind iSHOP™. A pilot project has already been set up successfully online. The novomind iSHOP™ is the latest and technologically the newest e-shop solution in German-speaking Europe. OTTO and novomind have pooled their e-commerce expertise for the joint venture, the aim being to present a completely redesigned shop solution and a new approach to projects, and thus create an alternative to established solutions. 
  
Implementation took less than half a year  
Those responsible at novomind and OTTO took less than five months from the initial idea to online launch, and the pilot e-shop at OTTO Russia took less than three months. "novomind iSHOP™ enabled us to set up an e-shop in much less time than it usually takes these days," said Thomas Köhler, Managing Director of novomind iSHOP GmbH which has been newly founded by novomind and OTTO. 
  
Not just a revamp  
The new platform has one major advantage over older generations of shop systems: a modern e-commerce concept and the latest technology. All of the latest technical requirements have been fulfilled, such as modern shopping navigation. "We have used our ten years of experience in e-commerce to completely redesign all of the functions of the e-shop solution, rather than adapting concepts that have become long in the tooth," explains Peter Wiedekamm, IT Director of novomind AG. The focus was on the efficient sale of products over the Internet-from data management and shop management to shop navigation and the check-out process. 
  
novomind iSHOP™ is an all-in-one e-shopping platform  
The designers did not need to compromise their programming to make the application compatible with older versions or technologies. Unlike previous shopping software, the entire shop navigation system works without additional programs. Many established e-shops have simply been added to over the years with the latest technological modules, but this has increased their complexity and, with it, the amount of maintenance they require and their susceptibility to breakdown. As a result, operating costs are high. 
  
Streamlined configuration focuses on core functions  
novomind and OTTO’s new platform concentrates entirely on core functions such as navigating in the e-shop, showing products, processing purchases, and marketing/information. This allows the e-shop platform to be integrated into existing e-commerce architectures with minimum effort. Existing systems such as product data management can continue to be used. 
  
novomind iSHOP GmbH  
novomind iSHOP GmbH is a joint venture between the Hamburg-based software company novomind AG and the mail-order company OTTO. By working together, both companies are combining their expertise in the field of e-commerce. The first project to be undertaken was the new e-shopping platform novomind iSHOP™ in 2009. novomind iSHOP™ is available as of immediately, now that the project has been successfully launched. 
  
OTTO Group  
Founded in Germany in 1949, the OTTO Group is today a globally active retail and service conglomerate with 49.539 employees on three continents. The OTTO Group has 123 principal companies giving it a presence in 20 countries throughout Europe, North America and Asia. Its business activities cover the areas of multichannel retail, financial services, and service. During the 2008/2009 financial year (28 February), the OTTO Group generated a turnover of €10.109 million. OTTO is currently the world’s largest mail-order retail group, and in online retail to end consumers (B2C) the OTTO Group comes in second place worldwide behind Amazon. Catalogue business, e-commerce and stationary retail form the three pillars of the OTTO Group’s multichannel retail operations. Global Group activities and numerous strategic partnerships and joint ventures provide OTTO with outstanding opportunities for knowledge transfer and the utilisation of potential synergies. At the same time, national subsidiaries have a high degree of independence, guaranteeing flexibility and nearness to the customer, as well as the ability to speak to target groups in the best possible way in the countries concerned. 
  
novomind AG: innovative software for professional customer communication and modern Internet systems     
novomind AG is based in Hamburg and has been supplying highly specialised software solutions for the Internet for the past ten years. novomind’s experts focus on four areas of service: e-communication, e-commerce, e-product information management and e-marketplace.
More than 60 of German’s top 200 companies are already using novomind software. novomind places great emphasis on trust-based, objective advice for its clients, and enjoys close cooperation with other software manufacturers such as IBM, INTERSHOP and T-SYSTEMS. 

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