Summer gives a boost to web sales

9:27am Tuesday 6th May 2008

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MEET Summer, a lifelike digital assistant dreamed up by a Hampshire company to help web shoppers bag a bargain.

The virtual women, with popular names like Summer and Melissa, strike up a conversation to offer discounts to online shoppers detected to be dithering whether to buy a product.

The concept, a brainchild of Titchfield web technology firm Justdevelopit, is already generating millions of dollars for clients in the United States.

Cutting-edge artificial intelligence software designed by Justdevelopit, which is less than six months old, identifies transaction delays and activates a typed dialogue.

Called Intellichat, it allows the virtual agents to chat online with customers and offer them last-minute price cuts.

More than 1.3 million chats are now being handled by a six-strong team at Justdevelopit's new headquarters and a recruitment drive is also under way as the firm grows.

Brooke Bryan, Justdevelopit's development director and the designer of Intellichat, said: "Intellichat has taken off beyond our wildest dreams.

"The save-a-sale agents are now saving close to a million dollars a month in potential lost revenue for our clients, who typically sell high volume sales products like green tea and diet pills.

"A lot of online shoppers often log off when faced with making a financial payment, so our automated agents suggest discounts that make parting with money more palatable.

"For example, the web user might get a message saying: Hi David, thanks for spending time with us. We'd hate to see you lose out on some great offers. I can offer you a ten per cent discount if you order now.' Clients pay us a commission for the sales that have been saved thanks to Intellichat.

"This sophisticated conversion tool is a win-win-win for the customer, clients and us. We also intend exploring the market for Intellichat in the UK - we're sure online retailers would go for it."

He added: "Our save-a-sale agents are stunning to look at, with one side effect we hadn't considered. They are receiving attention from cyber admirers who think the agents are real and want to form a relationship with them.

"Sometimes the typed conversations from the web users get a bit racy, but our save-a-sale agents are strictly professional. We monitor what is being said and step in if someone gets carried away."

Justdevelopit was formed last summer in Portsmouth by three web entrepreneurs, including Brooke, who previously sold their businesses to North American concerns.

In March the group's 16 staff relocated to Segensworth Business Park, Titchfield. Justdevelopit bought the two-storey office for an undisclosed six-figure sum in readiness for staff expansion.

Brooke said: "We are already in the process of recruiting more people as the business continues to grow."