Web host Affinity Internet is expanding its offerings for small and medium-sized online businesses, with a suite of add-on solutions and services -- continuing a trend followed by a number of leading service providers.
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Affinity this week took the wraps off its bundled premium services suite, including tools for site creation, management and marketing. The tools are closely integrated, and incorporate technology developed in-house at Affinity, and services provided by partners like Brightmail, Macromedia, Network Solutions, Miva Merchant and Cardservice International.
"We know that businesses are looking for these types of solutions and ... they don't want the hassle of having to go out and buy separate software," said Affinity Chief Executive Peter Chambers. "They're looking to Affinity to deliver that for them."
Affinity executives said the new offering help small businesses by enabling them to go to a single provider for a number of solutions, rather than a slew of specialty vendors.
"It's very confusing for the customer to know who they're dealing with," Chambers said of competing Web hosting solutions, which sometimes don't rebrand partner-provided add-on services. Similarly, Chambers added that some competitors may have to defer to their partners in providing customer support for some of their add-on offerings.
The products included in Affinity's new product suite center around CreateIt!, a wizard-driven tool for building and maintaining a Web site. The suite's SellIt! component offers Webmasters an online storefront and other tools for e-commerce.
Its EnhanceIt! tool helps businesses to add extra functionality and features to their site, while the ManageIt! component provides more backend site maintenance tools, such as user statistics and online customer service solutions. Another component, the PromoteIt! module, offers advertising and search marketing tools, including optimization services.
In addition to tools designed to manage and promote e-commerce sites, Affinity also includes ProtectIt!, a solution encompassing spam filtering, virus protection and security management tools -- useful for keeping small business' infrastructure safe from external threats.
The premium services are included with Affinity Internet's ValueWeb hosting accounts.
Portions of the suite had previously been made available individually to hosting clients, but Chambers said the new package offered tight integration between the tools.
In addition to the current lineup, Affinity also has plans to introduce a component that will let online merchants integrate their products catalogs with eBay. Once that's introduced -- likely to be within the quarter -- e-commerce sellers can upload their products to eBay with relative ease.
Chambers also said that Affinity is currently testing a component that helps to automate and assist in online advertising -- maximizing site keywords and helping with purchasing and tracking online advertising.
A third expected addition to the suite of tools includes an integration point between Web storefront
The move continues a major trend in the Web hosting and e-commerce space, with providers busily adding and integrating new features into their core products. NetSuite recently announced NetCommerce, which adds new analytics and site building modules, and has been lately promoting the deep integration between its accounting, inventory, CRM, and Web store components.
Hosting giant Interland also recently unveiled new services integrated into its shared hosting offering. One improvement enables customers to tap into previously un-bundled Interland self-service marketing services, which are now integrated into their hosting account. Search engine optimization services also were added to the mix.
Christopher Saunders is managing editor of eCommerce-Guide.com.
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