Overstock.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSTK) closed out 2017, its 18th
year as a leading online home goods retailer, with tremendous
growth, industry-leading innovations, and award-winning
recognition.
Overstock’s stock saw dramatic gains in 2017, ending the year at
more than $63.90 a share, an increase of 260 percent from its start
of $17.75 a share at the beginning of the year. The retailer’s
loyalty program, Club O, which offers members free shipping on
every item and at least 5 percent rewards on every purchase, also
grew strongly in 2017, with memberships increasing more than 46
percent. The program is offered free to active and veteran military
members, teachers, and first responders.
In May, Allison Abraham was appointed chairwoman of Overstock’s
board of directors. Abraham, the first female chairwoman of
Overstock’s board, previously served as a director on the board for
15 years, and chairs the board’s audit committee.
Other key milestones in 2017 for the online home goods leader
include the introduction of new technologies in the blockchain
space, advances in the mobile shopping experience including the
introduction of augmented reality (AR), the opening of new offices,
and continued community outreach through partnerships with a number
of non-profit organizations and individuals in need.
“The retail arm of the business is continuing to lead the
increasingly saturated online home goods and furniture market by
finding efficient ways to stay ahead of competitors who have no
qualms losing hundreds of millions of dollars a year,” said
Overstock.com CEO, Patrick Byrne. “Additionally, Overstock’s
investments into work on blockchain technology through our
subsidiary Medici Ventures are utilizing that technology to disrupt
some of the most bloated and inefficient global institutions,
including capital markets, property rights and land titling, money
and banking, voting, and more, further cementing our position as a
global leader in the transformative and revolutionary
technology.”
Blockchain and Cryptocurrency2017 was a
landmark year for both cryptocurrency and its underlying
technology, blockchain. Overstock continued to be a leader in the
blockchain industry, investing in companies that are at the cutting
edge of development in the space. The online retailer, which in
2014 was the first major retailer to accept bitcoin payments for
purchases, expanded its payment options to include dozens of major
cryptocurrencies through integration with ShapeShift, a leading
digital asset exchange.
Overstock’s blockchain-focused subsidiary, Medici Ventures,
named its board of directors in 2017, and also saw a number of its
portfolio companies continue to use blockchain to revolutionize
industries including capital markets, money and banking, property
registry, voting, identity, and underlying blockchain technology,
including:
- tZERO, the world’s first SEC approved, blockchain-based
alternative trading system, launched its initial coin offering
(ICO), which attracted over 10,000 subscribers and raised $100M in
commitments in the first 12 hours of its pre-sale. A significant
portion of the tZERO security tokens issued will be available to
accredited investors in the public sale beginning in January, 2018.
Overstock.com Blockchain Subsidiary tZERO Security Token Sale
Launches
- DeSoto Inc., a joint venture between Overstock.com founder and
CEO Patrick Byrne and world-renowned economist Hernando de Soto,
was created to develop a global property registry system to surface
the property rights of billions of people in the developing world.
Hernando de Soto and Patrick Byrne Unite to Challenge Global
Poverty & Inequality
- Bitt, a Barbados-based financial technology company using
blockchain to create central banking tools and mobile money
applications, named Rawdon Adams, son of former Barbadian Prime
Minister Tom Adams, as its CEO. Bitt also fully launched its new
mMoney digital payment product, bringing to market a
blockchain-based mobile wallet that allows users to participate in
digital transactions on their smartphones without the need for a
traditional bank account, helping to foster financial inclusion in
the region.
- South-American based Ripio (formally known as BitPagos),
participated in an ICO that raised $37M to fund its Ethereum-based
peer-to-peer lending platform, Ripio Credit Network.
- Belgium-based SettleMint launched a token sale for its
DataBroker DAO, a peer-to-peer marketplace created to provide
Internet of Things (IoT) sensor-owners with a clear path to data
monetization, and data consumers with a decentralized marketplace
in order to buy IoT sensor data. SettleMint also signed an
agreement with The Islamic Research and Training Institute, the
research arm of the Islamic Development Bank Group, to work with
local partner Ateon on developing blockchain-based financial
products that can be used to support development and inclusion in
IsDB member countries. Medici Ventures Portfolio Company SettleMint
Announces Token Sale for DataBroker DAO Beginning; IRTI Partners
With SettleMint to Develop Blockchain Products for Financial
Inclusion
Mobile Shopping
Overstock continued to improve its industry-leading mobile
shopping platforms in 2017, leading to the retailer’s sixth
consecutive year winning the Web Marketing Association’s Mobile Web
Award with the Best Retail Mobile Application, and to its first
year receiving the Best in 2017 Mobile Star Award in Best Shopping
App.
Much of the success in this field was due to the introduction of
AR to the iOS version of the mobile shopping app, which allows
customers to view true-to-life size 3D models in their room,
creating an added convenience for shopping for furniture and home
goods online. Additionally, the majority of Overstock.com’s high
traffic landing pages have scaled to AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages)
landing pages, an achievement that was highly showcased at the
Google Chrome Dev Summit.
Those technologies and more helped Overstock surpass the 5
million download mark on mobile shopping apps in 2017 while growing
its active monthly user base more than 80 percent from the
beginning of the year.
New Business Developments
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)
technologies continue to advance rapidly, Overstock has begun
implementing the technology throughout all areas of the
organization. To further foster advances and innovations in these
areas, Overstock created a dedicated AI data science group applying
the technology to improve or replace existing systems in all
divisions of the company, including Website Development, Pricing,
Customer Care, Supply Chain, Marketing, Sourcing, and more.
Overstock also introduced several consumer options to the
website, including the newly-re-launched Cars by Overstock. Cars by
Overstock is a full-service online automotive platform helping
customers navigate every aspect of the car ownership process,
including pre-purchase research and negotiation, and post-purchase
protection and repair.
Overstock also expanded operations outside of Utah with the
addition of two facilities in the state of Washington. Its newest
customer care center, located in Elma, WA, hosted Washington
Governor Jay Inslee at its official ribbon cutting in May, 2017,
and has helped Overstock continue to provide customers the
high-quality customer support for which the online retailer has
long been famous. In addition, an office location in downtown
Seattle was secured, and staffing of a tech-focused, Seattle-based
team is currently underway, with the goal of being fully
operational in early 2018.
Finally, 2017 was the year Overstock launched three new private
label brands; Porch and Den, which features contemporary furniture
and décor, Carson Carrington, a modern-style furniture and décor
line, and O Sleep, which focuses on mattress and bed accessories.
The brands, which are currently exclusive to Overstock.com, were
developed with the retailer’s current suppliers to provide quality
versions of top-selling products at a value that is unmatched for
customers. Overstock will continue to introduce more private label
brands throughout 2018.
Awards and Recognitions
Overstock received a variety of recognitions in 2017, spanning
from awards in high-quality customer service to awards in
environmental stewardship. Notable awards received in 2017
include:
- LEED Gold Certification for Overstock’s
environmentally-conscious corporate headquarters, Peace
Coliseum
- Inclusion in the list of the world’s top 50 e-retailers by the
National Retail Federation
- A sixth-consecutive win of the Web Marketing Association’s
Mobile Web Award, with Overstock’s iOS app named the 2017 Best
Retail Mobile Application
- A Best in 2017 Mobile Star Award for Best Mobile Shopping
App
- A Platinum Loyalty360 Customer Award in Operational
Excellence
- Induction into the Utah Technology Council Hall of Fame for
Overstock CEO and founder Patrick Byrne
- Utah’s Best in State Award for General Merchandising
Corporate Giving and Philanthropic Support
In 2017, Overstock’s fair-trade store, Worldstock, which was
founded in 2001 to provide traditional artisans across the world a
global platform to sell their handmade goods, expanded to include
products made by artisans in UN Refugee camps.
Overstock also partnered with a number of non-profit
organizations to provide support or donations, including Best
Friends Animal Society, Special Operations Warrior Foundation, the
American Red Cross, Parity.org, the Human Rights Campaign, Special
Olympics Utah, the Road Home, and other local, national, and global
philanthropic groups.
About Overstock.com
Overstock.com, Inc. Common Shares (NASDAQ:OSTK) / Series A
Preferred (Medici Ventures’ tZERO platform: OSTKP) / Series B
Preferred (OTCQX:OSTBP) is an online retailer based in Salt Lake
City, Utah that sells a broad range of products at low prices,
including furniture, décor, rugs, bedding, and home improvement. In
addition to home goods, Overstock.com offers a variety of products
including jewelry, electronics, apparel, and more, as well as a
marketplace providing customers access to hundreds of thousands of
products from third-party sellers. Additional stores include Pet
Adoptions and Worldstock.com dedicated to selling artisan-crafted
products from around the world. Forbes ranked Overstock in its list
of the Top 100 Most Trustworthy Companies in 2014. Overstock
regularly posts information about the company and other related
matters under Investor Relations on its website,
http://www.overstock.com.
O, Overstock.com, O.com, Club O, Main Street
Revolution, and Worldstock are registered trademarks of
Overstock.com, Inc. O.biz and Space Shift are also
trademarks of Overstock.com, Inc. Other service marks, trademarks
and trade names which may be referred to herein are the
property of their respective owners.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements
within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such
forward-looking statements include all statements other than
statements of historical fact. Additional information regarding
factors that could materially affect results and the accuracy of
the forward-looking statements contained herein may be found in the
Company's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2017, which
was filed with the SEC on November 8, 2017, and any subsequent
filings with the SEC.
Media Contact:pr@overstock.com
Investor Contact:ir@overstock.com
SOURCE: Overstock.com, Inc.
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