Merrill Lynch Enhances Online Shopping Experience by Integrating Inktomi
Shopping Engine into Comprehensive eCommerce Offerings
NEW YORK, and FOSTER CITY, Calif., Sept 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Merrill Lynch,
the nation's largest full-service securities firm, today announced that it has
signed a deal with Inktomi Corp. (Nasdaq: INKT), developer of scalable
Internet infrastructure software, to incorporate the Inktomi Shopping Engine
into its growing suite of eCommerce services offered through Merrill Lynch
OnLine.
Merrill Lynch's eShopping (http://www.shopmerrill.com) and eBusiness
(http://www. merrillebusiness.com) sites now offer its clients a comprehensive
online shopping service, featuring more than four million products from
several hundred merchants, with product and price comparison features,
merchandising capabilities and purchasing recommendations. This agreement
builds on Merrill Lynch's eCommerce offerings with an end-to-end technology
infrastructure that guarantees users an intuitive and compelling online
shopping experience.
"Our relationship with Inktomi gives Merrill Lynch the high-performance
technology infrastructure it needs to deliver our clients a first-rate
shopping service that compliments Merrill Lynch's full suite of online
financial services," said Randal C. Langdon, first vice president and senior
director of the digital business development group at Merrill Lynch.
"Together, Merrill Lynch and Inktomi have created a premium eCommerce hub for
our clients that will enable them to shop from a broad array of merchants --
and do it more easily."
While the Inktomi Shopping Engine enhances the online shopping experience
for all visitors to Merrill Lynch's eCommerce sites, the service is
particularly attractive to existing users of Merrill Lynch OnLine
(http://www.mlol.ml.com). Through Merrill Lynch's innovative cash management
account programs -- the CMA(R) Visa(R) Signature(SM) Program (aimed at
consumers) and the WCMA Premium(SM) Visa Business Card Program (targeted at
small and mid-sized businesses), the firm offers a variety of point rewards,
dependent upon the merchant, for online purchases made with either card.
Clients may redeem points for numerous products and services, including travel
on any airline any time, hotel stays, access to sporting and cultural events,
high-tech electronics and for payment of Merrill Lynch fees and commissions.
Additionally, the eCommerce sites feature exclusive offers from affiliate
companies, unique online auction services (found at
http://www.merrillauctions.com) and weekly point auctions. All of these
offerings provide special value for Merrill Lynch's consumer and business
clients.
"Inktomi's relationship with Merrill Lynch sets the agenda for online
commerce solutions in the financial services marketplace," said David
Peterschmidt, chief executive officer of Inktomi. "By providing the back-end
software infrastructure, we enable Merrill Lynch to focus on its core
competency -- the provision of online financial services -- while driving
users to its sites and increasing consumer loyalty."
About Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading financial management and
advisory companies with offices in 43 countries and total client assets
exceeding $1.5 trillion. The firm is the top global underwriter and market
maker of debt and equity securities and a leading strategic advisor to
corporations, governments, institutions, and individuals worldwide. Through
Merrill Lynch Asset Management and Mercury Asset Management, wholly owned
subsidiaries, the company is one of the world's largest managers of financial
assets. Merrill Lynch's Web offerings currently include:
-- http://www.ml.com -- the Merrill Lynch home page;
-- http://www.mlol.ml.com -- a financial resource site for clients and the
investing public;
-- http://www.askmerrill.com -- showcasing and delivering the firm's
award-winning global research;
-- http://www.shopmerrill.com -- a comprehensive online consumer shopping
service;
-- http://www/merrillebusiness.com -- enhancing business operations
through the delivery of goods and services;
-- http://www.businesscenter.ml.com -- an educational resource for
business owners focusing on financial management solutions;
-- http://www.merrillauctions.com -- bringing both business and consumer
buyers and sellers together.
About Inktomi
Based in Foster City, Calif., Inktomi (pronounced INK-tuh-me), develops
and markets scalable software designed for the world's largest Internet
infrastructure and media companies. Inktomi's portal services include the
search, directory, and shopping engine applications; network products include
the Traffic Server network cache platform and associated value-added service
applications. Inktomi works with leading companies including America Online,
British Telecommunications, CNET, Excite@Home, Intel, RealNetworks, Sun
Microsystems, and Yahoo!. The company has offices in North America, Asia, and
Europe. For more information, visit http://www.inktomi.com.
Inktomi, the tri-colored cube logo, Scaling the Internet, Traffic Server,
and Concept Induction are trademarks or registered trademarks of INKTOMI
CORPORATION.
SOURCE Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.shopmerrill.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/555800.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 555800
CONTACT:
Julie Keslik of Inktomi Corp., 650-653-3074,
jkeslik@inktomi.com; or Wendy Taylor of Access Communications,
415-904-7070, ext. 272, wtaylor@accesspr.com; or Jessica Welch of
Alexander Ogilvy, 212-880-5289, jwelch@alexanderogilvy.com, for
Merrill Lynch
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