Furniture Retailer Heilig-Meyers Chooses Xchange Inc.'s ECRM Technology To Manage Over 1.2 Million Customer Relationships. Xchange Solution Provides Retail-Specific Analytics, Customer Segmentation Capabilities And Targeted Marketing Message Execution

Furniture World Magazine

Exchange Applications, now doing business as Xchange, Inc. (Nasdaq:EXAP) announced that Heilig-Meyers Company (NYSE:HMY), the largest furniture retailer in the industry, has selected Xchange's eCRM technology to solidify and strengthen relationships with its growing 1.2 million customers. Heilig-Meyers has purchased two key solution components of the Xchange 4.0 eCRM suite--Xchange Dialogue', which enables companies to plan, create and execute highly targeted marketing communications across all customer channels, and Xchange Optimizer, an eCRM analytics product specifically designed for retail businesses. The Xchange solution combines in-depth analytics, purchase prediction and campaign planning, execution and measurement to help Heilig-Meyers successfully and profitably manage its customer relationships. Realizing that today's empowered customers are demanding more service, higher quality and better delivery, Heilig-Meyers began an exhaustive search to find the best eCRM solution to help them address the increasingly competitive retail landscape. Heilig-Meyers wanted to strengthen existing customer relationships and acquire new ones. After evaluating several eCRM providers, Heilig-Meyers chose Xchange because of its ability to: Provide stellar and numerous customer references that had experienced successful implementations and impressive results; Supply the most-experienced services team in the industry for installation and customization; Offer retail-specific analytic and reporting models; Meet Heilig-Meyers aggressive schedule and deliver the Xchange solution in 90 days; and Integrate with third party tools and support an open architecture. "The Heilig-Meyers' customer has many faces--many have been shopping here for years while others are brand new to the business. Everyone that walks in the store has individual preferences and financial considerations, signifying the need to diversify targeted marketing messages and give them what they want and can afford," said Sandy Nunnally, vice president advertising administration of Heilig-Meyers. "Xchange's technology will allow us to tailor messages to meet the demands of today's customers and take advantage of the opportunity to solidify and strengthen our relationships with our growing customer base." According to the GartnerGroup, retail businesses are facing many competitive challenges with the advent of the Web. In order to flourish, retail businesses must begin to look at their customers from a potential value and profitability perspective and focus on cultivating those customer relationships in order to address the competitive landscape. Andy Frawley, CEO of Xchange Inc. reaffirmed the challenges retail businesses are facing, noting Heilig-Meyers innovation in adapting the technology to address that need. "From dot com to brick and mortar, every retail company out there is finding the need to strengthen customer relationships in order to address increased competition," said Frawley. "Heilig-Meyers is a great example of a retail business that is addressing the challenge head on--empowering themselves with technology to understand their customers' and creating a more pleasurable customer experience." Xchange Dialogue and Xchange Optimizer-Retail components of the Xchange eCRM solutions suite, which combines software and services to boost sales revenue and strengthen interactive relationships with customers through relevant and personalized communications. The Xchange suite utilizes cutting-edge technology that spans local and centralized campaign management, analytics, real-time integration and Web personalization, helping companies ensure that out-bound communications are relevant, timely and coordinated across all channels while abiding by the best practices in consumer privacy protection and permission marketing. Xchange Optimizer will be available in additional vertical-specific versions in Q3 2000, including telecommunications, ecommerce, financial services and travel/tourism. About Heilig-Meyers Company: Heilig-Meyers Company is the Nation's largest retailer of home furnishings and related items. As of May 31, 2000, the Company operated 874 stores: 815 as Heilig-Meyers, 56 as The RoomStore and 3 as Homemakers. Visit the Company's retail web sites at www.heiligmeyers.com and www.roomstore.com. For the latest corporate news visit www.hmyco.com. About Xchange, Inc.: Xchange, Inc. helps companies earn a greater share of their customers' business through relevant, personalized customer communications. Xchange provides the only eCRM software and services solution that enables clients to customize offers based on profile information, synchronize offers across all customer channels in real-time, and track the responses. As a result, companies can improve their ability to acquire and retain customers, and make customer relationships more profitable. More than 135 of the world's most innovative companies, including Citigroup, DaimlerChrysler, drugstore.com and Vodafone are using Xchange's solutions to drive personalized communications to one billion consumers and businesses around the globe. Xchange is based in Boston with offices in Denver, Seattle, London, Sydney and Tokyo. For information, visit www.xchangeinc.com.