Smith-Gardner Provides Ecometry to Knight's Ltd

Smith-Gardner, a leader in end-to-end software solutions for e-commerce, announced that Knight's Ltd has selected Smith-Gardner's multi-channel enterprise solution, Ecometry, to power their catalog and e-commerce operations. Ecometry will consolidate all titles of Knight's Ltd -- City Spirit, Papillon, Home Decorators Collection, Knight's Ltd Shoe Studio and Soft Surroundings, enabling them to function autonomously yet operate under one corporate umbrella.

Knight's Ltd is a direct marketing business that has met with tremendous success since its launch in 1979. The group has been continuously recognized for its creation of popular niche catalogs and its savvy in successfully targeting markets with its diverse offerings.

With their expansion into the e-commerce arena, Knight's Ltd is expressly concerned with providing customers high quality service and looked to Smith-Gardner to ensure customer needs are met from every angle of the sales and fulfillment process. As a result, in addition to the base solution, Knight's Ltd is implementing Ecometry's Knowledge Center, E-mail Executive, Predictive Response personalization engine, and Inventory Forecasting module.

"Plain and simple, we turned to Smith-Gardner because of Ecometry's extraordinary ability to manage multiple companies, across multiple channels, utilizing a single database for all customer order and service activities," said Tom Wilcher, president, Knight's Ltd "Ecometry facilitates rapid growth and will enable us to manage thousands of transactions daily while increasing our operating efficiencies. We will benefit from faster order entry and processing and expect to reduce our fulfillment costs with Ecometry's warehouse and shipping system. Also, we will have the ability to offer our customers real-time order status and customer service online which is fundamental to building and retaining a loyal customer base."

"Knight's Ltd is a prime example of a company expanding into the e-commerce marketplace that can gain a competitive edge with Ecometry's multi-channel retailing capabilities," said Gary Hegna, CEO, president, chairman, Smith-Gardner. "Over the years Smith-Gardner has gained a reputation as a leader in the direct sales industry because of our long-standing commitment and unparalleled experience. We are pleased that Knight's Ltd can increase their efficiency and customer service levels by consolidating all of their operations under Ecometry."

Knight's Ltd Selects Ecometry

Knight's Ltd is one of many traditional catalogers who are increasingly becoming wise to the net by adding an e-commerce distribution channel to their traditional catalog operations. Last year, catalogs generated 4.4 percent of total U.S. retail sales, according to Department of Commerce figures -- a percentage that has doubled in the last 15 years as Americans have become more familiar with buying direct. This year, online sales are anticipated to comprise about 2.4 percent of overall retail sales. With the implementation of Ecometry, Knight's Ltd is positioning itself to strengthen its leadership in the direct sales industry, across both online and traditional catalog distribution channels.

About Knight's Ltd

Knight's Ltd is a direct marketing catalog group, www.knightsltd.com, which includes the popular catalog titles, City Spirit, Papillon, Home Decorators Collection, Knight's Ltd. Shoe Studio and Soft Surroundings. Founded in 1979 by chairman Grant Williams, the company employs over 1000 people, operating within three facilities in St. Louis, Missouri.

About Ecometry

Ecometry, a universal e-business application suite, offers advanced frontend customer relationship management applications fully integrated with comprehensive back-office e-fulfillment functions. The suite provides multi-channel retailers with a solution for building customer loyalty at each interaction point in the sales and service process. Ecometry's front-end modules include: campaign management, content management, personalization, shopping carts and order taking, payment and security, order management and customer service. Ecometry's back-end modules include: order processing, inventory management, warehousing and shipping, accounting, and point-of-sale. At the heart of the Ecometry system is the centralized customer data center, which distributes a single view of customer information across the entire enterprise. Ecometry's full integration provides significant performance and cost benefits with its complete implementation-to-execution strategy. By installing a fully integrated, turnkey solution, the time to market is a fraction of what it is when purchasing and implementing various point solutions.

About Smith-Gardner

Smith-Gardner is the premier provider of end-to-end e-commerce solutions worldwide. Smith-Gardner's family of products ensures customer satisfaction throughout the multi-channel shopping and buying experience. Headquartered in Delray Beach, Florida, the company was founded in 1988 and has several hundred clients in 17 countries. Smith-Gardner operates regional headquarters throughout the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific. The company's global client base includes Nordstrom.com, Brookstone, Zales, Hickory Farms, MicroWarehouse, KBKids.com, Nine West, Coldwater Creek, Hallmark, Urban Outfitters, and RedEnvelope.com. Smith-Gardner products earned Best of Comdex awards in 1998 and 1999, a Citation of Innovation at Internet and Electronic Commerce Expo in '99, and an award for Best New e-Commerce and Internet Product of the Year at The International Direct Marketing Fair in March. For more information on Smith-Gardner, visit the company's Web site at www.smith-gardner.com.

Contact Smith-Gardner, Sharon Gardner, 561-265-2700, sgardner@smithgardner.com or Fleishman-Hillard Inc, Kryssa Guntrum, 415-356-1038, guntrumk@fleishman.com.