Ace gains easy access to actionable information with BA Insight

Ace Hardware will power ACENET, its new search-driven intranet portal, with BA Insight’s Knowledge Integration Platform. The intranet, which serves Ace’s independent retailers and employees nationwide, will provide unified product and content search to improve store efficiency and customer satisfaction and to maximize upsell opportunities.

Already running in more than 3,000 stores, ACENET uses the BA Insight solution, along with SharePoint 2013, to drive more precise, accurate and complete search results. Ace Hardware store owners and staff can use a single interface to quickly access product information, real-time inventory, pricing data and corporate information. The solution surfaces targeted content based on the user’s geographic location, specific store attributes and individual search preferences. ACENET is being deployed across Ace Hardware’s 4,700 stores.

Ace Hardware’s Manager Store Systems Scott Heyer says, “Access to relevant product and inventory information is the lifeline for Ace retailers, and our search has to be the best out there. BA Insight was a unique choice because of its comprehensive product capabilities and deep expertise with SharePoint and search. ACENET takes advantage of the new Web content management (WCM) and search capabilities in SharePoint 2013, brought to life by BA Insight. The new platform has a friendly user interface, great navigation and an easy-to-use product comparison and shopping cart, allowing us to extend new cross-selling opportunities to Ace retailers.”

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