Tiger, Tiger burning bright, you are owned by ekmPowershop, tonight!

There’s been a rumble in the ecommerce jungle this week, as industry leaders ekmPowershop.com acquired one of the fiercest competitors in the UK market, Tiger Commerce.

Tiger Commerce customers were officially notified of the acquisition on March 12th 2012, resulting in a pain free upgrade to ekmPowershop.com’s market leading platform for thousands of online businesses.

Over the past decade ekmPowershop.com have carved out a dominant market share in the ecommerce software industry, having helped over 30,000 businesses create their own easy to use online shop. They now power a staggering 1 in every 5 online shops, and operate in several countries worldwide.

The previous owners of Tiger Commerce, GForces are widely recognised as the UK’s leading internet services provider to the Automotive Industry. The acquisition allows GForces to concentrate on their core business, whilst enabling ekmPowershop.com to bolster its UK customer base by several thousands of customers.

ekmPowershop.com’s owner and founder, Antony Chesworth commented: “In the past ten years we have seen our company grow and grow to become a market leader and we are showing no signs of slowing down. This acquisition boosts our customer base and ultimately enables us to help thousands of new customers in the exciting world of  ecommerce. In the future the aim is to upgrade Tiger Commerce users onto the ekmPowershop.com platform, allowing them to benefit from our world class, award winning ecommerce solution.”

Graham Shaw, Customer Services Manager at ekmPowershop.com added: “Our first priority is to ensure there is no disruption to Tiger Commerce users, as we take over the support, administration and billing of all customers on the platform. We’ve set up a dedicated task team of migration experts, who are working with all Tiger Commerce customers. Each customer will receive a one to one call with a member of the team, who will help them get the most from their online shop, and to ultimately help them increase the success of their shop long term.”

­­It’s been an exciting 12 months for ekmPowershop.com, which has seen them successfully launch into foreign markets, as well as reaching record levels of new customers at home and abroad. Now the acquisition of a major player in the UK ecommerce market confirms ekmPowershop.com really do have the eye of the Tiger!

Ecommerce fulfilment made easy with ekmPowershop.com and SixWorks

1 in every 5 online shop owners can look forward to hassle free order fulfilment this week, through ekmPowershop.com's latest cloud partner, SixWorks.

Six provides a complete order fulfilment service at the push of a button, allowing for truly hands-off selling. This latest integration with ekmPowershop.com not only takes care of the warehousing and delivery of products; but also provides customisable, branded paperwork, customer emails and much more.

Automated order transfer, return of delivery/tracking info and up-to-the second stock level sharing are all easily achieved through SixWork’s comprehensive fulfilment solution, combined with ekmPowershop.com’s market leading ecommerce software.

How do online shop owners take a much deserved break when their business is open 24/7, 365 days of the year? In a word: fulfilment. And that’s exactly what Six does with a process that’s invisible to the end user.

John Bradbury from ekmPowershop.com says: “The ‘final mile’ is often overlooked by many businesses when they start selling online. As the operation scales, fulfilment of the order efficiently and on time can be one of the biggest challenges they face.

If consumers experience any problems in receiving their goods ordered over the internet, then you can be sure to garner a bad reputation quickly in a market that’s full of competition. Six’s integration with ekmPowershop.com means clients can re-route all of their stock to Six’s warehouse facilities, and forget about the hassle of despatches and holding their own stock - for good.”

ekmPowershop.com’s back office integrations now include multi channel stock control, order fulfilment, pick and pack solutions and an accountancy software integration due for announcement in a matter of weeks.

“We’re pushing the back office aspect of ekmPowershop.com in terms of 3rd party integrations, and for us this latest integration ticks a very large box, as  Six offer such a comprehensive fulfilment solution.

Get your first month of pick and pack fees with SixWorks for free!

* Discount applies to all picking and packing fees as well as any management costs. Excludes storage, goods in, postage and packaging materials (if used). To qualify for this offer, companies must agree to use our services before the end of February 2012, and must claim their free month before or during June 2012.

FACTFILE:
Founded in 2002 by then 22 year old Antony Chesworth, the main products ekmPowershop.com and ekmResponse.com have grown to become the UK’s largest ecommerce and email marketing software software platforms, powering 1 in every 5 online shops in the UK.

Clients include Lotus Cars, O2, Michelin Tyres, Future Publishing, Madame Tussauds, The NHS, ITV, The BBC and thousands of SMEs.

ekmPowershop.com and ekmResponse.com have become the dominant forces in ‘off the shelf’ ecommerce and email marketing throughout the UK and beyond, helping over 17,000 businesses sell their products over the internet since its inception.

Other Ekm Systems products and services include website CMS (ekmSiteBuilder.com), Web Design (ekmWebDesign.com), web hosting (ekmHosting.com), Geo IP Redirection (ekmCompass.com), Web Statistics (ekmPinpoint.com), Postcode Lookup (Postcodeferret.com) and digital delivery (ekmDigitalVault.com).

==About SixWorks:==

Six is a leading UK-based fulfilment company, offering stock management, pick, pack & despatch services. Based in Cambridgeshire on the M11 corridor, Six ship domestically and internationally through a variety of couriers.

Six is entirely invisible to the end customer, providing customisable, branded paperwork and customer emails. Six’s fulfilment software platform is bespoke, developed in-house as a fully cloud-based application. This, combined internal processes, help Six to achieve a 99.98% accuracy rate on order processing (that's fewer than 1 mistake in every 5,000 orders).

Six guarantee to despatch 100% of orders placed before the 3pm daily cut-off the same day. Six’s secure web application lets clients check on goods-in, stock levels and order status in real-time, any time, from any device with an internet connection.

Other key benefits include:

• Six keep a complete and searchable history of everything we do, and use it to generate insightful management reporting

• Six serve clients from all round the world and in all markets, from health food to home brewing, trainers to thermal underwear.

• Most clients need never handle their stock, their suppliers send directly to our warehouse - we simply send out samples to them as required

• Ability to receive and process returns

• Our storage rates only consider the actual space used, no rounding up to full pallets or minimum storage commitments

• Clients have a named account manager always available by phone and email

For more information on SixWorks please contact James Hyde on enquiries@sixworks.co.uk or call 01223 967 610.

Succeed with the power of GroupBuy

An innovative, forward-thinking exhibition display company is continuing to lead the way in event marketing materials, after joining forces with the UK’s first social sharing ecommerce platform, Gloople.

Since 1979, Clip Display, an Exhibition Stand Design & Contractor, has built an enviable reputation for quality, innovation and creativity to become Europe’s leading business to business ‘one stop shop’ exhibition and display manufacturer.

Now the Bristol-based company is pushing its position at the cutting edge of the exhibition supply industry even further, by harnessing the power of social media through Gloople.

Shortlisted for the 2010 Econsultancy Innovation in E-commerce Award, Gloople ‘makes shopping social’ by giving small to medium size retailers the impact of a big brand. Gloople enables SMEs to use social networks to connect with unlimited numbers of potential customers and their online communities of family, friends and colleagues, driving traffic to their online store.

Uniquely, Clip Display has used Gloople to transform their B2B relationship marketing by utilising the GroupBuy function – currently the only company in their sector to offer this. Customers use collective buying power to secure exclusive discounts on selected products, meaning there’s a direct benefit to sharing their purchase – and the ClipDisplay brand – with their immediate network and the wider business community.

Ben Townsend, digital marketing executive and webmaster of Clip Display’s online marketing activity Display Kit Shop, is no stranger to the power of social media, hosting a regular blog to share information on the ever-changing digital world. ‘I like to think I know what I’m talking about,’ said Ben. ‘And I think the potential of GroupBuy – and Gloople as a whole – for the B2B market is phenomenal. Customers have a real incentive to promote products to their wider social networking community – and to come back for more.’

Clip Display customers also have the convenience of signing in via their Facebook account, thanks to Gloople’s integrated store – with the added bonus of securing a 3% discount by doing so. Meanwhile, Gloople’s ‘Refer a Friend’ provides added support through recommendations, and ‘Ratings and Review’ generates positive online ‘buzz’ around their brand.

Easily customised, with three tiered packages and a wide range of fully integrated marketing tools, including group-buy apps, wholesale, portable storefronts and mobile platforms, Gloople allows retailers to create their own customised package of add-on features to suit their business and their customers. Retailers can even turn their customers into online salespeople, giving them the tools they need to promote products and services in return for commission.

With 2011 hailed as the year of social shopping by Gloople founder and social marketing expert Warren Knight, ClipDisplay joins a growing number of businesses using Gloople to stay at the forefront of the online shopping revolution. Are you next?

Gloople offers all new customers a free 7 day trial – no obligation, no credit card details required. Visit www.gloople.co.uk or call 020 3384 6315 for more info and to start transforming your business.

ekmPowershop.com launches postcode lookup feature for your ecommerce website

Thousands of ecommerce businesses can look forward to boosting conversions with a UK postcode lookup feature this week, all due to www.ekmPowershop.com's latest update.

Postcode Ferret allows potential customers to select their address after entering a post code – avoiding unnecessary typing at the all important checkout stage on an ecommerce website.

It's also useful for curbing those annoying cart abandonments, Postcode Ferret does all the work so your customers don’t have to!

Antony Chesworth, founder of ekmPowershop.com comments on the latest in a feature flurry on the UK’s most popular ecommerce platform: “Checkout ‘drop offs’ are a painful reality of online retail. This new feature will help around 8,000 UK based online retailers reduce abandonment, and ultimately increase sales. Postcode Ferret is one of many new features that we’ve released in the past few months; and there are more to come, so watch this space”.

ekmPowershop.com users can activate Postcode Ferret in the ‘features’ area of their control panel today.

For details on Postcode Ferret, visit www.postcodeferret.com.