Silicon Artists, together with Banesto Bank, today launched its own e-commerce store, as a demostration of the possibilities of â??Convergence Commerceâ??. Unlike traditional HTML-based e-commerce sites, the Silicon Artists Store is available in Macromedia Flash, for an entertainment-driven shopping experience, and integrated with the TPV (Terminal Punto de Venta, e-commerce engine) of Banesto. This proof of concept site allows shoppers to purchase Silicon Artists T-shirts, and demonstrates the possibilities of next generation e-commerce.
Macromedia Flash is now the entertainment medium of choice for the Net, and entertainment will become a key part of online shopping. The Silicon Artists Store weaves real-world, robust and secure e-commerce into an animated story. Shortly, the store will be available in WAP and Interactive Television formats, and in English.
Banestoâ??s TPV is integrated into over 1,500 stores and handles 40% of online sales in Spain. The Silicon Artists Store will be integrated into Banestoâ??s online storefront at www.escaparate.com.
CONVERGENCE COMMERCE
Convergence Commerce is our term for the next generation of e-commerce. Convergence Commerce is characterized by three factors:
- It is multi-platform. Shopping will move beyond the web to embrace multiple devices including mobile phones and interactive TV.
- It is entertaining. Current on-line stores tend to be simple look-up catalogues of products. While this is an important and necessary feature, it should not be forgotten that offline shopping is primarily an entertaining experience. The integration of entertainment and online commerce is a major future trend.
- It is personalized. Silicon Artists believes that Personalization, comprising both user-driven customization and profile-based recommendations, is a key part of all future commerce activities.
Shay Oâ??Sullivan, Silicon Artists Head of Convergence Commerce, said, â??The Silicon Artists Store represents our first Convergence Commerce store. We intend to maintain and update this site as a showcase for the type of innovative shopping sites that we can build for our clients.â??
ABOUT SILICON ARTISTS
Silicon Artists is a Madrid-based high end convergence services company, focused on the design and construction of broadband user interfaces for the three key broadband platforms:
- Interactive TV.
- PC with DSL or Cable-modem.
- The Networked Kiosk.
Silicon Artists Studio is a division of the company specialized in online entertainment on multiple platforms.
Founded in 1996, Silicon Artists has worked for a variety of Telcos, Cable Operators, Media and Entertainment companies in Spain, the United States and Great Britain.
ABOUT BANESTO
Banesto Bank has a long experience in Internet, a vocation for innovation, and is using the medium in the following ways:
- For communication with clients and non-clients through its corporate portal www.banesto.es.
- A complementary channel to the physical Banesto branches that allows clients to enjoy the inherent advantages of Internet: geographically unlimited 24 hour access, lower commissions and completely up-to-date information. For this we have an Extranet (an office for individuals), Banesnet (an office for companies) and our financial portal.
- Online banking for those clients who prefer to communicate with Banesto exclusively via the Internet, known as ibanesto.
- E-commerce as the ideal way to communicate with consumers (B2C) and companies (B2B).
- Â A Virtual Shopping Mall in Internet, with a recently renovated images: www.escaparate.com.