EFI, the world leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation, and Paid, Inc. (OTCBB:PAYD) announced today that the two companies have signed a license agreement that enables EFI to integrate Paid's real-time online shipping calculation technology into its PrinterSite order system via an application protocol interface (API). The licensing agreement with EFI marks the first API integration since the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued the patent for portions of Paid's online shipping calculation technology in January 2008. Under the annual renewable contract, EFI will pay Paid, Inc. an annual licensing fee that will allow EFI's system to access Paid's AuctionInc server to calculate or recalculate shipping costs in real time for customer orders. The shipping calculation API is now live on the PrinterSite order system.
BOSTON & FOSTER CITY, Calif. (Business Wire EON) January 16, 2008 --
EFI, the world leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation,
and Paid, Inc. (OTCBB:PAYD) announced today that the two companies have
signed a license agreement that enables EFI to integrate Paid’s
real-time online shipping calculation technology into its PrinterSite
order system via an application protocol interface (API). The licensing
agreement with EFI marks the first API integration since the United
States Patent and Trademark Office issued the patent for portions of Paid’s
online shipping calculation technology in January 2008. Under the annual
renewable contract, EFI will pay Paid, Inc. an annual licensing fee that
will allow EFI’s system to access Paid’s
AuctionInc server to calculate or recalculate shipping costs in real
time for customer orders. The shipping calculation API is now live on
the PrinterSite order system.
“EFI’s Internet
applications are used by thousands of printing companies and their
customers, resulting in tens of thousands of shipments, so it was
important for us to enable these clients to show actual or estimated
shipping charges to their own customers in real time as they added items
into their shopping carts,” said Chuck Gehman,
EFI director of product management for Web-to-Print. “We
want the end customer to be able to compare the charges between
different carriers and different shipping methods, and Paid’s
API enables us to do that at a very affordable rate.”
For EFI, and for eCommerce companies in general, shopping cart
abandonment is a problem that they are seeking to solve. According to Practical
eCommerce, “Seventy-two percent of
shoppers cite shipping as a top reason for shopping cart abandonment.”
With estimates in Shop.org and Forrester Research’s
“State of Retailing Online 2007”
study that online retail sales, excluding travel, were $146.5 billion in
2006 and were projected to grow to $174.5 billion for 2007, few
companies want to risk losing shoppers once they have lured them to
their sites. Additionally, a groundbreaking research study by Jupiter
analyst Ken Cassar revealed that the largest percentage of ecommerce
customers believe that shipping and handling charges should be a
function of product weight.
“A priority for us is providing our clients
with a way to make more sales, including the prevention of shopping cart
abandonment where possible,” Gehman stated. “Since
they are selling print jobs, shipping charges can vary greatly depending
on what is ordered. Therefore, it is extremely important that we allow
them to make comparisons among carriers and provide shipping data during
the ordering process, rather than offering flat rate shipping or show
shipping costs after the order is placed. After examining several API
solutions in the market, we found that Paid's solution provides exactly
what we need with a considerable time-to-market advantage, as well as a
low cost of ownership.”
The online shipping calculation technology enables EFI to automatically
calculate multiple carrier shipping, packaging, insurance and handling
costs for orders placed through its clients’
web sites as each item is added to the shopping cart, eliminating the
surprise of true shipping costs at check-out. EFI also plans to have its
call center operators use the API to calculate shipping charges for
phone orders in order to provide customers with total order cost
instantly.
“We’re pleased to
welcome EFI as a customer, for our shipping calculation API,”
said Richard Rotman, Paid CFO and CTO. “EFI
approached us nearly a year ago when they recognized the value of our
shipping calculation API. They are a perfect example of the type of
customer that can benefit from our API, because the products shipped by
their customers vary in size and weight and are shipped to a wide range
of destinations, as is typical of many eCommerce companies. We’re
looking forward to helping them provide their customers with accurate
shipping costs that can help reduce shopping cart abandonment and
ultimately result in more sales and happier customers.”
Rotman noted, “Although it is commonplace now
for companies to use a zip code as a location indicator to help them
calculate shipping charges, when we developed and applied for our patent
in this area more than five years ago, the concept was cutting edge. We’re
still leading the industry in providing real-time shipping costs and
comparisons among carriers based on the actual size, weight and other
criteria of the merchandise as it is placed in or removed from the
shopping cart. We anticipate signing additional licensing agreements for
astute companies like EFI that see the cost efficiencies and enhanced
customer service to be gained through our API. We also expect to pursue
licensing agreements specifically relating to our newly patented
technology.”
About EFI
EFI (www.efi.com) is the world leader
in customer-focused digital printing innovation. EFI's award-winning
solutions, integrated from creation to print, deliver increased
performance, cost savings and productivity. The company's robust product
portfolio includes Fiery® digital color print
servers; VUTEk® superwide digital inkjet
printers, UV and solvent inks; Jetrion®
industrial inkjet printing systems; print production workflow and
management information software; and corporate printing solutions. EFI
maintains 23 offices worldwide.
EFI, Fiery, VUTEk and Jetrion are registered trademarks of Electronics
For Imaging, Inc. in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and/or certain
other foreign jurisdictions. All other trademarks mentioned in this
document are the property of their respective owners.
About Paid, Inc.:
Paid, Inc. operates a diversified set of businesses, including its
celebrity services and AuctionInc ecommerce technology businesses. Using
proprietary patent-pending technology, Paid's innovative AuctionInc
brand shipping calculation and auction management software and services
are utilized to streamline online auctions, ecommerce and web site
development and hosting. Paid, Inc.’s
celebrity services provides celebrities and organizations with official
Web sites and fan club services that include e-commerce storefronts,
ticketing and fan experience packages and web site content to attract
tens of thousands of visitors daily, as detailed on its web site, www.paidcelebrity.com.
The Company also sponsors autograph signing events and other sports
marketing services for sports clientele. The Company's common stock is
traded on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol PAYD. For further
information, visit http://www.paid.com.
Forward Looking Statements:
This Press Release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that are based upon current
expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions about future
events, including matters related to the Company's operations,
profitability, business development efforts, and expectations about
celebrity programs and fan club activities, technologies, and services.
Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the
forward-looking statements and the assumptions upon which they are based
are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations and
assumptions will prove to have been correct. The reader is cautioned not
to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, as these
statements are subject to numerous factors and uncertainties. In
addition, other factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially are discussed in the Company's most recent filings, including
Form 10-QSB with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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