Ben's Cycle Announces Significantly Improved 2013 Holiday Numbers With Hawk Search, A Thanx Media Site Search Solution

Six months away from implementing a new eCommerce platform, Ben’s Cycle selected Hawk Search to replace the out-of-the-box search engine.

Family owned retailer, Ben’s Cycle, specializes in offering hard-to-find, high quality bicycle products at competitive prices. The homegrown business replaced their entire eCommerce platform and eCommerce search engine less than three weeks from Black Friday, and the results were a welcome surprise!

Ben’s online presence began in 2000 when they first began selling through eBay. After migrating to a shopping cart model in 2004, they experienced a considerable growth in online sales.

“There are many complexities that come with operating both a brick-and-mortar and an online operation,” explained Drew Triplett, Internet Manager at Ben’s Cycle. “We knew we’d outgrown the existing online platform and needed to replace the entire system so that the technology could catch up with the needs of our customers. Hawk Search brought us into the multi-channel retail world almost effortlessly.”

Originally, the team at Ben’s Cycle was pleased with the eCommerce features and POS (Point-of-Sale) functionality of the platform they were preparing to launch. However, six months prior to launching the new website, they determined that the site search engine was insufficient and began searching for a more aggressive third party solution.

Two driving features that lead to the selection of Hawk Search were:

• Faceted navigation – where shoppers can search and browse for products with multiple attributes in any order and be presented with relevant results.
• Shopping insights through analytics – offering the ability to track what products people are searching for and identify opportunities.

“Not many retailers are willing to risk launching new functionality three weeks before the online holiday rush. But Ben’s Cycle was motivated enough to take a measured risk. The success Ben’s Cycle experienced speaks highly of their team and the solutions they selected,” said Paul Matker, Thanx Media CEO.

About Thanx Media
Thanx Media is an enterprise technology company delivering cutting edge solutions that enable businesses to harness the power of data. Powering over 300 sites, Hawk Search, a Thanx Media product, is a scalable and flexible software solution that transforms site search and merchandising into a Customer Experience Management platform. In addition to site search, Thanx Media provides data collection and product data management solutions that enable businesses to deliver the best customer eCommerce experience possible. Thanx Media is privately held. For more information, visit www.thanxmedia.com.

About Shoe Ben’s Cycle & Fitness
Ben's Cycle & Fitness specializes in offering hard-to-find, high quality bicycle products at competitive prices. Established in 1928 by Ben Hanoski, Ben's Cycle & Fitness has been family owned and operated in the same southern Milwaukee neighborhood for over 80 years. Ben’s Cycle and Fitness is now owned and operated by Ben's grandson, Vince. For more information, visit www.benscycle.com.