iPod Shuffle Referral Contest

Alisha Kennedy, independent furniture sales representative from Kansas, was very pleased to learn that she was the winner of our latest iPod shuffle promotion.

I tracked Alisha down during the High Point Market in the showroom of one of her furniture lines. She was surprised when I told her she had won. She likes the shuffle's color, orange, and she plans to use it often while exercising and running. We appreciate the referrals we've received from Alisha and all the sale representatives that use FurnishWEB.

We have referrals from over 25 sales representatives and we've followed up on each of them. Referrals from sales representatives have resulted in 75% of our new customers over the past year. We are proud of these referrals and we plan to live up to the trust these sales representatives have placed on us.

High Point Market Oct 2007

TRIP SUMMARY
Since we launched FurnishWEB in January 2006, I have enjoyed attending the High Point Furniture Market and this was no exception. I try to visit each of our customers and many potential customers. Although the week includes a ton of walking and my feet are aching by the time its over, it's always a good time.

Over the past three markets in High Point I've seen plenty of sour faces and the pervasive mood has been low. The talk has consisted of the Las Vegas market build-up, plants closing, lower sales volume, personnel turnover, and more competition for dwindling retail demand. Recently there has been a clear association identified between the housing market woes and slumping retail furniture sales as reported in the Raleigh News Observer. However, I experienced a definite mood upswing this market.

Many people (sales reps, sales vice presidents, presidents, buyers, marketing managers) told of a good market with good orders. They were smiling and seemed optimistic about the future. I guess they could be faking, but most of these people I've visited for several markets and, as an industry supplier, they have little reason to fool me. So I'm going with the positive vibes I felt during this market. I'm hopeful for a good winter season and the industry beginning its recovery in 2008. I expect many of them to sign up with the FurnishWEB family to bring more efficiency to the sales/customer service process ... they'll need it with the growth resulting from the market rebound.

WELCOME A.R.T. FURNITURE
FurnishWEB was again well received at the market. A press release was published in the Furniture Today's Wednesday magazine during market announcing that A.R.T. Furniture had launched their FurnishWEB extranet. Several people stopped me to let me know they read the article. How cool is that?

MOBILE FURNISHWEB BETA
We had more sales reps than we needed who were interested in beta-testing our newest FurnishWEB release, FurnishWEB Mobi. This is a slimmed down version of FurnishWEB designed to operate on the small web browsers available on many PDA phones (e.g. Blackberry, Treo). We've started with product data, inventory, and a photo. So far the response has been great. The sales reps think its great to pull out their cell phone and quickly get inventory status ... and the customer are very impressed. We're enthusiastic about FurnishWEB Mobi and looking forward to its imminent release .... stay tuned!

Welcome Somerton Home Furnishings

Somerton Home Furnishings Goes Live on Internet Databases’ FurnishWEB Solution

Blacksburg, VA (October 20, 2007)

Internet Databases, a leading furniture industry web development company, announced that Somerton Home Furnishings has implemented Internet Databases’ FurnishWEB sales support, order management, and customer service solution. With FurnishWEB, Somerton will improve order fulfillment, empower their sales representatives, and increase customer satisfaction.

“It was an easy decision to provide our sales representatives with online product and inventory data”, says operations manager Rita Ho. “Having this knowledge along with order and invoice reporting only helps us better serve our customers.”

With FurnishWEB, Somerton will also take orders via the web. This will allow the manufacturer to take domestic and container orders 24 hours per day. “FurnsihWEB’s OrderPad is a simple and convenient way to speed up the order entry process and reduce keying errors,” says Rita Ho.

“We are excited to partner with a strong company like Somerton Home Furnishings and we look forward to helping the company continue their success”, says Barry Welch, President of Internet Databases

ABOUT SOMERTON HOME FURNISHINGS – Somerton Home Furnishings of Corona, California is a case goods importer and the U.S. marketing arm of Chinese manufacturer Kingstone Furniture. Somerton sells bedroom, dining room and entertainment furniture at medium prices.

ABOUT INTERNET DATABASES - Internet Databases of Blacksburg, Virginia is a custom web development company that has been serving the furniture industry since 1999. The internet software provider develops custom solutions that enhance customer relationships through business-to-business transactions, sales force automation, online catalogs, and online order processing. FurnishWEB is an order management extranet targeted at domestic furniture manufacturers and importers. The subscription-based application has features that include online order entry and status; product information and inventory status; photo library and sales and management reporting.

For more information visit www.furnishweb.com or contact a representative at info@furnishweb.com.