Big Attitude Blended with Small-Business Values and Service Bring Success to Cleveland Rich Retail Developer
Cleveland - A decade ago, online retailing was still in its infancy. While people had embraced the concept of shopping online by the start of the new millennium, online “stores” didn’t deliver the bells and whistles one expects out of today’s e-tail environment.
In the year 2000, the founders of Easy2 Technologies, John Bukovnik and Paul Schutt, veterans of the advertising and consumer products industries, saw opportunity in this scenario. So, they set out to help leading consumer products manufacturers and online retailers bring products to life for cyber shoppers with the development of dynamic, interactive rich retailing tools, such as product selectors, tutorials, buying guides and 3-D visualizers, to name only a few of the company’s innovations over the past decade. Easy2 provides these custom online merchandising solutions for such clients as Sears, Toys ‘R Us, Golf Galaxy, Target, CDW, Callaway Golf, KitchenAid, DeWALT, Britax, D-link, Best Buy and more than 150 others.
“We’ve had an interesting journey,” said John Bukovnik, Easy2 president and co-founder. “We jumped in while the cyber-shopping market was still relatively new and undeveloped, and we had the idea to take it to the next level, driving it from static, catalog-like pages to a virtual, hands-on experience. Along the way, our clients have truly understood that providing consumers with interactive tools helps drive more educated purchasing decisions and more sales.”
Headquartered in downtown Cleveland’s historic theatre district, the company employs more than 30 online merchandising professionals, sales strategists, copywriters, multimedia designers, application developers and project managers.
As for any start-up business, the road to success wasn’t always smooth for the Easy2 pioneers, but they remained determined and survived in tough economic times that drove many others in cyber-technology to collapse and financial distress.
In fact, in just 10 short years, Easy2 Technologies went from being just another technology start-up company with big dreams and great ideas to recently being named in the Top 500 Solutions Leaders Guide by Internet Retailer, the leading publication for the Web-based retail industry. Noted by top e-tail clients like Amazon.com, CDW Corp. and Buy.com Inc., Easy2 cracked into the top three ranking for their category, serving as a primary rich media provider for 24 of the nation’s leading e-tailers.
Easy2 Technologies continues to see tremendous industry growth, most recently adding 20 new clients and embarking upon several custom projects with companies such as Sherwin-Williams, D-link, John Deere, Stork Craft and TigerDirect.
Since its inception, Easy2 Technologies has rolled out many exciting rich retail technologies. In 2006, the company created the Make Your Own (MYO) Demo, the only SaaS (Software as a Service) application that allows non-creative personnel to create highly interactive rich media-based product demos without the assistance of Web designers or the IT department. The company continued to expand this concept into new areas, including the MYO Product Selector in 2008, the MYO Ratings and Reviews in 2009 and, coming in 2010, MYO Brand Store
“Our MYO system is the only tool of its kind in the merchandising industry,” said Bukovnik. “We provide our customers with a software system that enables them to use existing marketing materials and build engaging interactive content for their Web site on their own. They have total control over content, quick turnaround and the ability to easily update their online content. Our ultimate goal is to create an MYO suite of products.”
Easy2’s current online merchandising product offerings, notably utilized by the nation’s top e-tailers, include product demos, selectors, ratings and reviews, product instructions, visualization tools, buying guides, how-to tutorials and online training applications.
“We’ve carved a definite niche for ourselves over the past 10 years and plan to continue enhancing the cyber-shopping experience for many more years to come,” Bukovnik said
To celebrate its 10th Anniversary, Easy2 Technologies will host an open house in August at its Playhouse Square offices in Downtown Cleveland, followed by a gala celebration at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.
Easy2 Technologies is a leading rich media firm specializing in the development and distribution of interactive content. At their forefront of their services is the MYO (“Make Your Own”) Suite, a web-based Software as a Services platform. From product demos and selectors, to buying guides and brand stores, MYO’s breadth of product offer solutions for any online merchandising need.
Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Easy2 has been providing rich media solutions to the nation’s top manufacturing and retailing clients, including Lowe’s, Amazon, Best Buy, Sears, DeWalt, KitchenAid, Whirlpool, Monster Cable, Electrolux, De’Longhi, and many more. For more information visit www.easy2.com.