WOBURN, Mass., Sept. 30, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bridgeline Digital, Inc. (Nasdaq:BLIN), a developer of award-winning web engagement management software and interactive technology solutions, announced today that Shaw Floors, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. and the world's largest carpet manufacturer, has recently launched Shaw Web Studio ( http://www.shawwebstudio.com ). Developed on iAPPS Content Manager, iAPPS Analytics and iAPPS Commerce, Shaw Web Studio was built for Shaw's nationwide network of flooring retailers, many of whom are independently operated stores with limited website marketing capabilities. Shaw Web Studio provides access to tools, content, and collateral, enabling retailers to build and manage their own professional websites that benefit from iAPPS' full range of easy-to-use administrative functionality, as well as a best-in-class feature set that includes industry-leading SEO (Search Engine Optimization) capabilities along with integrated web analytics reporting that offers unparalleled insight into customer and site visitor activity. Bridgeline's iAPPS Product Suite is an innovative SaaS solution that unifies Content Management, e-Commerce, e-Marketing, and Analytics capabilities - enabling users to swiftly enhance and optimize the value of their web properties. iAPPS Content Manager is the 2010 CODiE Award Winner for Best Content Management Solution, globally.
With the Shaw Web Studio, Shaw's extensive retailer network has access to much more than simple ready-made templates. For a low monthly subscription cost, retailers can develop their own site and populate it with a wide range of ready-to-go content that includes informational videos, product catalog items, promotional materials, and editorial - all developed and controlled centrally on iAPPS by Shaw to target the flooring consumer. From a regional perspective, iAPPS' content management capabilities enable retailers to handle the ongoing management of their own websites in a way that reflects their understanding of their local customers and markets. "Because flooring retailers are experts in their areas, it is important for them to be able to localize the information on their websites," says Misty Hodge, Web Services Manager at Shaw Flooring.
Shaw's first step when it sought to improve the performance of its retailers' online activities was to gain a better understanding of online flooring consumers and their intent. Shaw worked with the Bridgeline team to uncover these findings and used that information to create the overall solution as well as the initial library of content that would meet consumers' needs. "There are a lot of difficulties retailers have with being on the Web," says Hodge. "They don't have the time, the money or the experience that it takes to produce a truly valuable consumer Web experience. Shaw Web Studio was designed to give them these tools and be extremely easy to use."
Integration with iAPPS Commerce also gives Shaw retailers the option to display their product catalog on their Web Studio website. And for retailers that have an existing website they choose to maintain, iAPPS Commerce can either add the product catalog to that existing site or can provide an automatic and consistent delivery of data and images to keep their existing Shaw product catalog up to date. Additionally, integration with back-end systems ensures that a retailers' catalog will only display products that they are contracted with Shaw to distribute.
Shaw retailers can also use tools to run analytics reports within iAPPS Analytics or choose content to use in social media outlets. The platform also automatically creates search-engine-friendly URLs and metatags, and gives retailers the ability to improve their SEO rankings by inputting their own SEO data. Notes Hodge, "With iAPPS, this is easily accomplished by changing the content on a site or by adjusting keywords and metatags." The results of Shaw's Web services project have been apparent from the start, with several retailers reporting new customers coming to their stores after searching online for flooring experts in their areas.
About Shaw Flooring
Shaw Industries Group, Inc., a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., is the world's largest carpet manufacturer and a leading floor covering provider with more than $4 billion in annual sales and approximately 25,000 associates. Headquartered in Dalton, Ga., the company manufactures and distributes carpeting, rugs, hardwood, laminate and ceramic tile for residential and commercial applications worldwide. A recognized leader in environmental stewardship, Shaw has implemented hundreds of sustainability initiatives and cradle-to-cradle design solutions, collectively termed the Shaw Green Edge. For more information, visit www.shawfloors.com.
About Bridgeline Digital
Bridgeline Digital is a developer of an award-winning web engagement management platform and award-winning interactive business technology solutions that help customers leverage best in class web-based technologies to achieve their business objectives. The iAPPS Product Suite is an innovative SaaS solution that unifies Content Management, e-Commerce, e-Marketing, and Analytics capabilities into the heart of websites, online stores, intranets, extranets, and portals – enabling business users to swiftly enhance and optimize the value of their web properties. iAPPS Content Manager is the 2010 CODiE Award Winner for Best Content Management Solution, globally.
Combined with award-winning interactive technology development services by Microsoft Gold-Certified development teams, Bridgeline Digital helps customers to cost-effectively maximize the value of their rapidly changing web applications. Bridgeline's teams of developers specialize in web application development, e-commerce development, usability engineering, SharePoint development, rich media development, and search engine optimization.
Bridgeline Digital is headquartered near Boston, with additional locations in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Bangalore, India. Bridgeline Digital has hundreds of customers ranging from middle market organizations to divisions within Fortune 1,000 companies that include: Sun Chemical, Honeywell, Healthcore, LG Electronics, Marriott International, Berkshire Life, PODS, Budget Rental Car, Washington Redskins, AARP, National Financial Partners, The Packard Foundation, DTCC, Cadaret, Grant & Co., National Insurance Crime Bureau, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. To learn more about Bridgeline, please visit www.bridgelinedigital.com.
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CONTACT: Bridgeline Digital, Inc. Brian Bolton, Vice President of Marketing 781.497.3013 bbolton@blinedigital.com