Overstock.com Wins Gartner & 1to1 Customer User’s Choice Award

STAMFORD, Conn., Gartner, Inc. announced that Overstock.com, an online retailer offering brand-name merchandise at discount prices, is the winner of the inaugural “Gartner & 1to1 Customer User’s Choice Award.”

The award, which is given to the company that most clearly demonstrates exemplary customer relationship strategy and an unrivaled level of excellence in delivering the customer experience, was presented during Gartner’s CRM Summit, which took place September 8-10 in Washington, D.C.

Three award finalists — Overstock.com, AT&T and EMI Music — were selected by a panel of judges, including Gartner analysts, 1to1 Media and business and academic experts. The finalists presented their case studies at the Gartner CRM Summit to more than 600 attendees who provided their feedback as to which company they believed did the best job overall.

“Great submissions to the CRM awards tend to leap from the page as you are reading them. This was one of them,” said Adam Sarner, principal research analyst at Gartner. “Overstock.com’s attention to the customer experience as a leading way to significantly grow their business is yet another success story to share with our clients.”

Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com, said, “I consider any honor concerning how we treat our customers the most significant awards that Overstock can win. It is a fantastic honor to be recognized among such distinguished firms as AT&T and EMI. It’s great to see our Customer Care team, led by Stormy Simon, rewarded for all of its hard work of figuring out what the customer wants and making that happen. The Gartner CRM Summit is a great forum for learning about how other companies are meeting their own consumer needs. It has been an invaluable opportunity to learn Gartner CRM insights and to network with CRM peers that are working through the same kinds of problems.”

Gartner and 1to1 Media also presented Customer Awards to 16 more organizations for demonstrating successful customer-based business strategy with resulting business impact.

This is the first year of the Gartner & 1to1 Customer Awards. The goal of the partnership is to establish a standard of excellence for customer-focused organizations and honor those companies that reach that level by delivering optimal customer experiences. This new combined awards program will highlight companies that are providing value to customers and shareholders by effectively bringing together strategy, technology and execution to deliver ideal customer experiences.

The Customer Award winners were honored in the following seven categories:

* Customer Strategy — Excellence in establishing an enterprisewide customer strategy
* EnterpriseCRM Optimization — Excellence in the use of full-suite technology
* Marketing Optimization — Excellence in the use of marketing automation
* New Media Optimization — Excellence in the use of new media
* Organizational Transformation — Excellence in establishing an enterprisewide customer strategy that creates a win-win for company and customers
* Sales Optimization — Excellence in the use of sales force automation
* Service Optimization — Excellence in customer service and support that is enabled by technology

The winners will be featured in the September/October 2008 issue of 1to1 Magazine, in a special issue of 1to1 Weekly and on both the Gartner and 1to1 Media Web sites.

More information on the Gartner & 1to1 Media Customer Awards is available at http://www.gartner.com/it/summits/611509/crf10_awards.jsp or on the Gartner CRM Summit Web site at www.gartner.com/us/crm.

About Gartner Customer Relationship Management Summit
The Gartner CRM Summit is a comprehensive event offering the latest customer strategies and technologies, how those technologies affect your customer relationship initiatives, and what organizational and cultural changes must occur to meet your company’s goals. Additional information is available at www.gartner.com/us/crm.

About 1to1 Media
1to1 Media is dedicated to helping organizations realize the greatest value from their customer base. The company provides resources that deliver current and relevant information on the latest thought leadership regarding customer strategy and marketplace trends. Led by 1to1 Magazine, 1to1 Media’s print, electronic and custom publications explore the best practices, trends and developments from companies that are using customer initiatives to drive bottom-line impact. Backed by Peppers & Rogers Group, the globally-recognized leader in customer strategy and relationship marketing, 1to1 Media combines thought leadership, field experience, editorial expertise and global brand awareness to deliver the content needed by its audience of more than 150,000 decision makers and practitioners.


About Gartner:
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world’s leading information technology research and advisory company. Gartner delivers the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, Gartner is the indispensable partner to 60,000 clients in 10,000 distinct organizations. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has 4,000 associates, including 1,200 research analysts and consultants in 80 countries. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.