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FAO Schwartz Reinvigorates It's E-Business
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 Allaire Corporation, a leading provider of Internet software and services for companies building their business on the Web, today announced that FAO Schwarz, recognized as a leading toy retailer and authority in the toy industry, has implemented the Allaire Business Platform to relaunch its online toy store, FAO.com. TheAllaire Business Platform provides the necessary features and functionality to ensure that FAO.com offers the same unrivaled, whimsical experience associated with FAO Schwarz' retail stores. FAO Schwarz' choice of the Allaire Business Platform provides the company with the technology to rapidly develop and deploy a scalable, world-class site, creating an open online environment to further establish the 138-year-old brand as a premier click-and-mortar toy company on the Web."The Allaire Business Platform makes it possible for any business looking to embrace the Web to do so successfully and on its own terms," said David Orfao, president and CEO of Allaire. "FAO Schwarz needed to rapidly and cost-effectively create a strategic center of business. Most of all, the company needed to ensure that FAO.com would be able to encapsulate those features that have made the business so successful in the brick-and-mortar world. As FAO continues its growth, the selection of the Allaire Business Platform will enable its online business to expand while providing the world-class functionality and support that FAO Schwarz' customers have come to expect from such a premier company." Using the Allaire Business Platform, FAO Schwarz leverages Allaire JRun, a complete J2EE application server that facilitates rapid development and deployment of scalable enterprise and e-commerce server-side Java applications, and Allaire Spectra, a packaged system for next-generation content management, e-commerce and personalization that enables corporations to embrace the Web as a strategic center of their businesses. Key technology enhancements to the site include:
- Scalability -- The site will be able to handle a large volume of customers at any given time.
- Enhanced navigation -- The site offers easy-to-access menus, shortcuts and listings, which are itemized by specific category, brand, character and FAO exclusive boutique.
- Order tracking -- Customers will be able to access information on the status of FAO's order fulfillment system.
"Working with Allaire, we were able to launch FAO.com quickly and well before the 2000 holiday season," added Bud Johnson, CEO of FAO Schwarz. "The site not only emulates the unique FAO Schwarz in-store experience, but it also provides better self-service capabilities for our customers, such as easy site navigation and order tracking. Allaire's technology has enabled our company to become a major online presence and remain that way for years to come." "Allaire's platform is a scalable, highly flexible solution that enables established companies like FAO to confidently extend their distinctive in-store shopping experience to the Web," said Bob Wise, chief technology officer, marchFIRST. "Utilizing Allaire's industry-leading technology, marchFIRST helped FAO get to market quickly and build a robust, secure Website that can reliably handle high levels of traffic and transactional volume." [Posted 8/22/2000]
  
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