ASI Celebrates ESP Websites’ 15,000th Customer

ASI member bizINTOUCH of Houston, TX publishes milestone ESP Website

TREVOSE, PA – December 10, 2014 – The Advertising Specialty Institute^® (ASI) today celebrated the 15,000th customer to publish an ESP Website, ASI member bizInTouch of Houston, TX.            

ESP Websites™ launched in May 2012 and recently hit its 15,000th milestone. In 2014 alone, ESP Websites and Company Stores™ that ASI hosts for suppliers and distributors attracted a total of 5.7 million visitors, a 30% increase over the previous year.             

Charlie Braun owns bizInTouch (asi/140737), a marketing services provider of promotional products, print, direct mail and email. Braun, a Mississippi native who segued into promotional products after 20 years of running a successful print shop, said he chose ASI’s ESP Websites because “I was blown away by the ease of use and the friendliness of the website. It’ll propel me to where I want to be.”

End-buyer-friendly ESP Websites are created specifically for the promotional products industry, combining ESP (the industry’s first, largest and most advanced sourcing system) and a fast, dynamic shopping engine. For those new to creating and managing business websites, ASI supplies both pre-loaded and ready-to-use material such as videos, news and over half a million  promotional products. No IT skills are necessary. ESP Websites’ benefits include:                  

• Immediate browse-and-buy functionality
• Social media integration
• One-click virtual sample technology
• Rotating “Product of the Day” feature
• Unique product codes that prevent prospects from price shopping

“When Charlie Braun wanted to take his small business to the next level, he turned to ASI and ESP Websites,” said Timothy M. Andrews, ASI president and chief executive officer. “Every day, distributor websites like his make it easier to do business and attract new clients through a professional looking site that’s a snap to manage. We’re thrilled Charlie and bizInTouch hit the magic milestone number. I can’t wait until ESP Websites celebrates its millionth customer.”

“ESP Websites is really amazing,” said Bill Smith Jr., executive vice president of Brown & Bigelow (asi/148500), which gave ESP Websites to top reps throughout its network to help them stand apart from the competition and win sales. “The designs look incredible and the features – social media, virtual samples and true e-commerce – are fantastic.”

This month, ASI upgraded ESP’s fast, robust e-commerce search engine, powered by Oracle’s Endeca platform, to help members further improve conversion rates and increase average order size. ASI’s ESP platform (Web, online and websites) now also offers a new custom products tool to improve managing special products in Company Stores. In addition, thanks to flexible search, users can search quantity and price independently.         

And, advertisers can enjoy increased visibility, with “Top Sellers” updated to 80 spots and additional updates to “You May Also Like” and new “Product Quick View.”

ASI will demonstrate all of ESP’s latest features at ASI Show^® Orlando, Sunday, January 4, through Tuesday, January 6, at the Orange County Convention Center. The show also features a Q&A with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak January 6 at 8:30 a.m. ET.