“Searchandising” Still Buzzy

I first used the term serchandising in an article for eCommerce Times back in March, 2007 and promptly received a cease and desist notice from Offermatica. Their CEO, Matt Roche emailed to inform me that I was infringing on their trademark and that he needed to protect his IP. The letter actually opened the door to a great conversation with Matt, whom I’ve come to know quite a bit since then.

However, I responded to Matt by stating that I was surprised that I didn't come across their trademark registration. I did my diligence at the US Patent and Trademark office and did not see a registration for Offermatica, but rather an abandoned application for the term Searchandizing with a "z" from Fort Point Partners, Inc. He responded that Fort Point was acquired by Offermatica and after some checking by his attorney, finally acquiesced that they did not in fact hold a trademark on the term any longer. Since then, my friends over at ATG mentioned that they were pursuing the term, but that may still be under wraps.

Anyway, the term popped up again in the August issue of Entrepreneur Magazine, for which I was interviewed back in March as well. MSNBC also picked up the story and basically did a reprint of the Entrepreneur story.

The sound bites are as follows:

"It's no secret that e-commerce search and online merchandising have a magnetic attraction."

"These applications morphed into the e-commerce lexicon as searchandising, enabling merchants who integrate search and merchandising to realize higher levels of customer satisfaction and returns."

"Search and navigation are inextricably tied, to have an efficient search system, you [need] an effective navigation scheme. In short, if your site is unorganized, it makes information discovery difficult."

Here’s the full story: http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2007/august/181698.html