Ferrit Opens Doors to Online Mall

Auckland, 28 November 2005

Ferrit Opens Doors to Online Mall -

The doors open today on New Zealand's newest shopping mall, online retail site www.ferrit.co.nz.

After four months in development the Telecom-owned site is now ready to present to the public its initial offer of 1.2 million products from 56 retailers.

The nineteen product categories include a wide range of offerings in the most popular online shopping categories, including music, movies, clothing, shoes, accessories, books, magazines, electronics, home wares, health, beauty, sports, gifts and cars.

Retailers include 3 Wise Men, Amazon, Ascent, Baby Shower, Baby Universe, Ballantynes, Bike Barn, Bivouac, Bling, Bras.co.nz, Canterbury, Champions of the World, Dick Smith Electronics, Emirates Team New Zealand, Full Swing Golf, Funky Shoes, Game Planet, Golf Shop, Hallensteins, Hannahs, Hedgehog Bikes, Hill & Stewart, Inhouse Furniture, Interflora, IQ Toys, Jennifer Ann, Julia Smith, Lighting Direct, Living & Giving, Line 7, Marbecks, Mellencamp, Mercury Subs (Magazzino), Mitre 10, Noel Leeming, NZ Shop Online, Office Rocket, Overland, Pharmacy Direct, Postie Plus, Real Groovy, Scooter e Motion, Smiths City, Sound Expression, Team Platinum, Telecom, The Gift Basket, Toy Planet, Walker & Hall and Wild Poppies, as well as the Audi, Hyundai, Porsche, Skoda and Volkswagen car brands.

Phased approach focused on new products "Our aim is to build the best site we can to allow New Zealand retailers to sell new products online to New Zealand customers," says Ferrit General Manager, Ralph Brayham.

"With that in mind we've adopted a phased approach to building the site. Today you can search for and compare products. When you find a product you want to buy, you're able to click through to the appropriate page on the retailer's e-commerce site - or go to your selected retail store and make your purchase armed with the best information.

"In Phase II, which we'll roll out next year, you'll be able to buy directly from Ferrit. The key point is, we'll continue to evolve and grow.

"Our focus is on selling new products: there is no capability for individuals to sell anything on the site -- and we have no plans to develop this.

To date over 100 retailers have signed up with Ferrit, which is not at present charging them to participate. "We believe strongly that we'll be able to deliver additional customers to them, and will only charge once we're clearly able to demonstrate this," says Brayham. "When we do charge it will primarily be based on sales completed through Ferrit." Key site features

Search Search by product name, in any category or across the site, in any geographic region or throughout NZ Results are presented in terms of product types, retailers and brands Sort by type, brand, title or price

Compare Compare features and prices of up to three items at once

Product listings Top level: Description Rating Retailers Price Availability Second level tabs: Related products Product details Reviews (professional and consumer) Advice and guides Additional images

What's Hot Popular items. These are initially determined by Ferrit, but will over time be driven by user preferences

New Stuff New items in each category, as determined by retailers

Personal Profile Create a personal profile with personal details, display name, image and interests. Build lists, save recent searches and view friends and family lists When you log on and select your preferences, "What's Hot" automatically tailors the way you see the site to reflect your chosen interests

Lists Create multiple lists (personal ones, Christmas, Birthdays). These can be saved, emailed and shared

Gift Grabber Suggests gift ideas according to the occasion, recipient, interests and age

ENDS

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