New product allows e-tailers to easily integrate 3D images in to their stores

[September 20th 2000]

NueWeb Interactive has announced the first interactive solution that allows e-tailers to quickly and inexpensively integrate virtual reality models of their products into their Websites. The turnkey solution, branded NueView, lets online shoppers view merchandise from any angle and demonstrate product actions. Detail views provide a closer look at product construction and features.

Already buy.com, Etronics, PhotoAlley.com and ritzcamera.com, have incorporated NueView into their Websites. Circuit City has plans to do so. All five companies expect the more effective display of products and their features to pay off by turning more browsers into buyers this holiday season. NueWeb is so confident the company is offering to waive its fees if conversion rates do not improve.

"In the past, the visual presentation of online merchandise was always a problem, especially with electronics," said Rick Hancock, chief merchandising officer for Phobo.com Inc, which manages ritzcamera.com. "One product with the same name could have 50 to 60 different versions. Consumers want to be reassured that they're buying the right one. I believe NueView will make someone more likely to press the `buy' button."

Lack of product information ranked among the top ten problems Web shoppers experienced during the 1999 holiday shopping season, according to Andersen Consulting.

NueWeb's ready-made database of photo-realistic interactive images allows online retailers to integrate three-dimensional product representations into their Websites overnight and at a fraction of the cost of custom work. The NueView database contains all of the most popular consumer electronics as ranked by CNET.

Because it is hosted on NueWeb's server, the application is non-disturbing to the e-tailer's site and requires no additional bandwidth, eliminating the costly and time-consuming retooling previously needed to accommodate three-dimensional images.

"NueView has a very simple, yet elegant offering," said analyst Stan Prescott, e-commerce program leader with Frost and Sullivan, an international marketing and consulting company. "I especially like their business model. Combine their high fidelity images with some analytics and you have the best formula yet for turning visitors into customers. Those in the `high touch' B2C community should take a close look at this start-up. What you'll see will make you want to pan, rotate, and zoom to get their service incorporated into your site."

NueView uses Macromedia's Flash technology and advanced streaming to quickly produce high-quality interactive product images. Unlike competing technologies, Flash is compatible with more than 92 percent of browsers. Only a small percentage of users ever require downloads, addressing another common complaint of online shoppers.

The solution is priced competitively, with the cost based on a per-click charge of just pennies. Additional fees include a monthly database access charge of less than $50 and a one-time set-up fee, which covers the cost of developing a custom interface with the customer's Website. The set-up fee varies depending on the length of subscription.

Although initially launching NueView with consumer electronics, NueWeb Interactive plans to introduce several more databases of three-dimensional interactive images for other industries over the next few months.

Links
NueWeb		http://www.NueWeb.com