Sigma6 Interactive Launches Commerce Site for Harmony House

Sigma6 Interactive Media Inc. in Detroit launched an e-commerce Web site for Harmony House that goes live Dec. 7, and is billed as “Michigan’s first music-only e-commerce site.”

Sigma6 launched the initial Web presence for Harmony House in January, offering information on new releases, store specials and in-store appearances. The updated Harmony House site will offer users the chance to purchase CDs and tapes from an inventory of 200,000 different titles. Billings were not disclosed.

The site will employ All Music Guide’s complete database of classical music reviews and information. CDs can be purchased online at 20 percent off the retail price, and new releases can be purchased at 30 percent off during the first week of release.

With the Harmony House site, Sigma6 is unveiling its own e-commerce software, “Red-Ant,” based on scalable core business modules.

The core Red-Ant modules are business objects that offer transaction, catalog and customer management features. One of the custom features of the Harmony House Red Ant module is that it offers “real-time” inventory to the customer. Once the customer is ready to purchase multiple music titles online, the system will check to make sure that all items are in stock and will notify the user if an item is backordered. This will enable the Web shopper to adjust an order appropriately, either by asking for separate shipments of order items or waiting until all items are ready to be shipped together.

“This is an exciting announcement, not only for Sigma6 and Harmony House, but for all of our existing and future clients,” said Russell Zack, co-founder and president of Sigma6. “We intend to apply the Red Ant technology to meet all of our clients e-commerce objectives.”

Phase three of the site launch, scheduled for late 1998 or early 1999, will include content that features the Billboard Top 10 as well as other music- related content. Later, Sigma6 will launch “personalization” engines, so that customers returning to the site will receive personalized music recommendations based on their purchasing habits.

The final scheduled phase of development, which will likely roll out in early 1999, will feature customized CDs. Users will be able to create and purchase their own CDs online using Harmony House’s database of titles.