» FAQs

 

Frequently Asked Questions

OVERVIEW

THE TECHNOLOGY

SYSTEM DEPLOYMENT

ABOUT THE COMPANY

OVERVIEW

Q: What unique value does Vibe offer?
Today’s online shoppers are faced with an overload of product information. Vibe solves this problem by personalizing merchandising presentations to make shopping more relevant, fun and truly all about the shopper.

The Vibe® System address the following:

  • Solves Too Many Products in Too Little Space: Vibe® Engines easily cut through myriads of products to present the most relevant products to individual shoppers. Vibe works in all retail environments including websites, in-store kiosks and even small screen formats such as cell phones.

  • Makes “Discovery” Browsing Possible: While existing web-based browsing technologies are generally great at drill-down or “mission-based” shopping (i.e., when a shopper has a predefined notion of what she is looking for), true “discovery” browsing or “window-shopping” (where a shopper seeks inspiration) is relatively undeveloped on the Internet. The value of discovery browsing is evident through traditional bricks & mortar case studies that illustrate the importance of inspiration or discovery shopping as a means of stimulating trial of new products, facilitating the merchandising of up-sell products and extending the shopping experience.

  • Makes Cross-Category Up-Selling Possible: Vibe generates customer profiles that are ubiquitous which means that member profiles can be matched to products of unrelated brands, categories and even across cultures no matter where the member was first profiled.

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Q: What applications are best for Vibe?
Vibe is best at matching image-enhancing and self-improvement products. Example categories include apparel, accessories, jewelry, watches, shoes, makeup, fragrances, home furnishings, house wares, homes, cars, travel destinations, restaurants, drinks, books, tapes and seminars: in short, Vibe is well-suited to merchandise any offering that is purchased in whole or in part to enhance a person’s story. Further, the Vibe® System is particularly appropriate for web-based retailer with large inventories.
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Q: What market data does Vibe offer?
The Vibe® System offers unique psycho-graphic aspiration data that can be indexed to common demographic data.
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Q: What is Vibe’s Privacy Policy?
Vibe does not spam or sell email addresses. And while retailers can dynamically mine customer behavior on a aggregated basis, individual profiles and user information are not disclosed.
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Q: What makes Vibe better?
Vibe is based on the philosophy that predictive marketing is best accomplished by looking to the future rather than the past. Thus, unlike other recommendation models that look to buying histories to second-guess product relevancy, Vibe defines individual shopper aspirations (goals), then recommends products that help them achieve such aspirations. Through this view to the future, Vibe ensures that a shopper’s personal motivations and interests will be accurately measured and met.

Vibe’s unique approach to predictive retailing results in a merchandising solution capable of delivering the following benefits:

  • Optimizes Product Exposure: Vibe® Engines optimize product exposure by dynamically presenting personally relevant products to individual shoppers. With Vibe, you can also present cross-category products.

  • Increases Sales & Reduces Returns: Vibe includes knowledge on how matches are generated, thereby creating greater shopper trust and confidence. With such knowledge, shoppers are also less likely to return purchases.

  • Improves the Customer Experience: Vibe makes shopping more fun, relevant and efficient – all of which increase length, depth and quality of customer visitation. Vibe makes the retail experience all about the shopper which is the surest way to keep customers coming back.

  • Gathers Unique Insight Data: In addition to common demographic data, Vibe allows you to collect and study unique customer psycho-graphics. Vibe® Aspiration Metrics are particularly useful toward defining the needs and desires of groups like teens who are hard to track by demographics and buying history. Further, Vibe® Aspiration Metrics are ubiquitous which means that data can be measured and compared across brands, categories and even cross-culturally.

  • Offers Unprecedented Accuracy: Unlike other recommendation systems that second-guess consumer preferences, the Vibe® System simply ask customers to define the future they want. The result is a more meaningful and accurate profile to match to, particularly for groups such as pre-career groups (teenagers) where demographic and buying history data is shallow.

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THE TECHNOLOGY

Q: What is Vibe® Technology?
Vibe is a patent-pending merchandising solution that recommends relevant products to help shoppers achieve personal aspirations. As an interactive tool, Vibe promises unprecedented product-matching accuracy in a fun and customer-centric shopping experience. Vibe® Technology is embodied in the form of product recommendation engines of varying sizes that can be embedded into retail websites, on-site kiosks, and small-screen e-tail formats including cell phones.
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Q: How does Vibe match products to shoppers?
Vibe® Engines map a shopper’s personal aspirations then utilizes proprietary algorithms to match profiled products that help meet the shopper’s aspirations.
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Q: How are product profiles entered into the Vibe® System?
Products can be entered into the Vibe® System by our Vibester Staff or by your designers, buyers and/or marketers/merchandisers. To make initial profiling fast and easy, a shortcut rating process called the Vibe® One-Click Rating System can be used to assume a profile of one of several pre-defined personality arch-types. Once products are entered, the Vibe® Automated Profile Learning System quantitatively integrates consumer opinion to evolve product profiles over time.
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Q: How does Vibe entice shoppers to become members?
Vibe members are invited to enjoy product discounts, personal insight information, social networking functions and the ability to explore and perfect their personal brands. Further, Vibe profiles are ubiquitous, which means that members can login at any participating retailer to have relevant products immediately matched to them. Further, the Vibe business model allows for entirely free shopper membership.
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Q: Can Vibe® Engines use customized matching variables?
Yes. While we believe the core Vibe® Matching Algorithm is the single best approach to matching, Vibe® Engines are designed to allow inclusion of additional matching variables and formulas. Thus, the Vibe® Matching Algorithm can be used in a complimentary fashion with any Collaborative Filtering (CF) formula to create a more holistic psycho-graphic / demographic view of shopper interest and motivation.

CF and Vibe formulas differ in that CF is based on manipulating historical data while Vibe looks to future aspirations. More specifically, CF formulas are typically: ‘people who like X also tend to like Y’, or; “you purchased X in the past so Y might be interesting to you too.” Typical failures? Under CF, if Steve buys a book on kite flying for his nephew, Steve gets recommendations to other kite flying books in the future irrespective of whether he personally cares about kite flying. The Vibe® Matching Algorithm differs as follows:

  • Vibe Looks to the Future, Not the Past: The Vibe method defines individual motivation and interest by mapping one’s personal aspirations or future goals. Vibe theory is premised on the concept that knowing a shopper’s goals is the key to generating relevant product recommendations.

  • Vibe Doesn’t Second-Guess – It Simply Asks: Rather than speculate, Vibe simply asks customers to define the future they want. There’s only one person who can define your aspirations: you.

  • Vibe Predicts From The First Click: Vibe requires less customer data than CF formulas because CF is a pattern recognition methodology that requires a significant amount of transactional data before meaningful patterns can be detected. Vibe on the other hand, makes meaningful and accurate recommendations from the very first shopper action.

  • Vibe Matches Across Categories: Vibe cuts to the very core of what it is to be human. By mapping the drivers that shape one’s personal brand, the Vibe® System can predict across product categories, brands and even cross-culturally.

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Q: Can Vibe gather customized metrics?
Yes. The Vibe’® System anticipates that retailers have customized demographic tracking systems thus is designed to accommodate customized data points.
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Q: Does Vibe work across product categories or cross-culturally?
Yes. Vibe’® Engines offer a truly ubiquitous solution that can recommend product selections across product categories, brands and even cross-culturally. This means that no matter where originally profiled, Vibe Members can login at any participating Vibe Retailer to have relevant products matched to them.
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SYSTEM DEPLOYMENT

Q: How is Vibe integrated into retail environments?
Vibe® Engines are designed to be embedded into existing web-based environments. Such Modules are offered in a variety of sizes to meet the needs of any retailer. As shoppers browse, product information is called from Vibe® Servers and other locations you elect to host data. When shoppers are ready to enter the checkout process, they are referred directly to retailer shopping cart systems for order uptake, payment processing and product fulfillment.
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Q: What implementation assistance does Vibe offer?
Vibe offers a range of development and integration services including: application planning, user interface design, brand skinning, roll-out planning, testing, debugging, on-going maintenance and system support. Select services are included in licensing packages while others are available on an as-needed basis.
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ABOUT THE COMPANY

Q: What is Vibe’s organizational format?
Vibeware, LLC is a privately held company dedicated to making online shopping better. Like many technology companies, Vibe utilizes a virtually-managed out-source production model.
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Q: Who are Vibe’s competitors?
Vibe competitors are primarily Collaborative Filtering (CF) technologies that study historical buying patterns to define purchasing patterns to thereby make product recommendations. While we believe the Vibe® Matching Algorithm is the best approach to matching, Vibe® Engines can be used in a complimentary fashion with any Collaborative Filtering (CF) formula to garner a more holistic psycho-graphic / demographic view of shopper interest and motivation.
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Q: What resources is Vibe seeking?
Vibe is on the lookout for talented people and strategic partnerships. Vibeware needs talent in the areas of web-based retail, user interface design and database implementation. Further, we’re open to exploring partnering opportunities with retailers and other enterprises well-positioned to leveraging Vibe® Technology.
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For more, see Technology, How It Works, Theory, Efficacy, Benefits, FAQs.