SLI Connect Events Worldwide Draw Hundreds of Leading Retail Brands To Discuss the Future of E-Commerce”

Recent Conferences in Australia and UK Offer Best Practices In Online Customer Experience, Mobile, Personalisation, Site Search and More

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand – April 22, 2016 – SLI Systems (SLI.NZ), a global leader and provider of e-commerce services for mid-to-large size Internet retailers and B2B sites, today announced that its SLI Connect events worldwide have become popular forums for leading online brands, wholesalers, technology providers and media to discuss the future of e-commerce. Most recently, SLI held its second “Connect” event in Australia and its third UK event, drawing hundreds of industry thought leaders to hear about the latest e-commerce technologies, as well as the SLI product roadmap, and to network throughout the day and evening.

“SLI continues to strengthen and educate our retailer community across continents. With the pace of innovation, its important for our customers and prospects to collaborate and discover the best strategies to accelerate online sales,” stated Chris Brennan, CEO, SLI Systems. “SLI Connect events bring together the region’s leading retailers to discuss, explore and learn from one another’s e-commerce challenges and goals, resulting in action plans for personalisation, mobile, site search, and of course increasing revenues.”

SLI also held the second-annual SLI Connect in September at New York City’s famous Carnegie Hall and conducted an inaugural Connect event in Tokyo to meet the needs of the growing marketplace.

SLI Connect Australia

Held at the iconic Sydney Opera House on April 6, the second-annual SLI Connect event in Australia gathered SLI customers, online retailers, SLI partners, event sponsors, and media. More than one dozen e-commerce thought leaders participated in presentations, case studies and panel sessions, which offered best-practice insights from experts representing ChannelAdvisor, ShopBot, Bronto Software, Temando, Braintree, eStar, Nisbets, publishing house Octomedia, Krispy Kreme, and SLI Systems. The closing keynote was given by Tim Davies, the president of PeSA (Professional eBay Sellers Alliance).

Digital Business Manager Richard Schulman, with Krispy Kreme Australia, an SLI Connect Australia keynote speaker, emphasised the role of e-commerce tools in providing a high-quality customer experience and, ultimately, driving sales. “It’s no secret that e-commerce retailers need to streamline their websites and make sure that they are easy to use for the average punter, but the secret is how,” he said. “Most businesses don’t realise how easy it is, or how important it is.”

During the event, SLI surveyed leading brands about their strategies for competing in a fast-changing global marketplace, and found that 9 in 10 Australian retailers have implemented new technology in the last 12 months to deal with increasing competition. Full findings from study can be found here.

For more highlights from SLI Connect in Australia, read the SLI blog article “Aussie Retailers Imagine the Future of E-commerce at Annual Summit,” view the event video and photos, or visit the SLI Connect website.

SLI Connect UK

On March 16, nearly 200 e-commerce industry thought leaders convened at the third-annual SLI Connect in London, held at the Ham Yard Hotel, Soho. The popular annual event brought together customers, partners, retail editors, retail analysts and visitors for a day of sharing best practices for seizing the opportunities presented by omnichannel retailing, personalisation, mobile and more.

In his presentation about Embracing Digital Transformation, Simon Hogg at Bestway Wholesale said, “The quickest win we did to improve the online experience was improve search, which had been the number one frustration for our customers. At the moment, 80 percent of our customers use site search… and we no longer get complaints about that issue. We are currently seeing about 20 percent higher conversion when comparing people who use search with those using only navigation or the old search.”

At the event, SLI surveyed leading UK retailers about the most important priorities for e-commerce in 2016 and found that nearly 35 percent of UK-based online retailers list customer experience as their highest priority in the coming year, with mobile optimisation coming in a strong second (26 percent). SLI issued a news release detailing the complete findings from the study.

See the 2016 SLI Connect UK video for more highlights from sessions, the partner pavilion and evening party.

The next SLI Connect event is planned for September 15, 2016 in New York City at the magnificent Carnegie Hall. Registrations will open soon.

About SLI Systems
SLI Systems (SLI.NZ) enables the world’s leading e-commerce retailers to accelerate sales by connecting shoppers with the products they’re most likely to buy. With offerings that include site search, navigation, merchandising, mobile, product recommendations and user-generated SEO, SLI is the most chosen cloud-based site search provider to U.S. Internet Retailer Top 1,000 retailers. The company’s patented technology continuously learns from the actions of visitors to deliver the most relevant results possible. Whether via PC, tablet or phone, a site powered by SLI delivers the kind of satisfying search experience that increases conversion rates, secures brand loyalty and results in higher order values. SLI operates on five continents. For more information, visit www.sli-systems.com.

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SLI Systems Contact:
Rod Garrett
Chief Financial Officer
SLI Systems
+64 3 961-3261
rod.garrett@sli-systems.com

Media Contact:
Richard Inder
Director, The Project
+64 9 817 6184
richard@theproject.co.nz