Make Your Business Run More Smoothly with Product Information Management Software
When it comes to managing your product information, are you relying on disparate spreadsheets, InDesign and MS Word documents, PDFs, HTML pages, and more that are updated manually by different people in your company? Are your images, PDFs, attachments, and product features scattered in various places and departments? Do you continuously find errors and stale data in your catalogs, web pages, and sales materials?
eCommerce Technology for Wholesale Distributors
B2B shopping cart technology is helping “brick and mortar” distributors compete directly with online retailers. It has allowed once stagnant businesses to expand operations across the country. By leveraging eCommerce solutions, wholesale distributors can accept payments – via paypal or credit cards instantly. eJeeva’s solutions offer fast, easy and affordable template based options to get eCommerce websites set up right away. The options enable wholesale distributors to retain their key branding elements – logo, corporate colors and fonts – to differentiate themselves from the competition. No longer do distributors need to retain a website design guru or a database manager to oversee the eCommerce business. The online store is open all day, all night, so customers can view products, compare items, get inventory details and purchase goods at anytime.
Achieving Success with a Product Information Management Solution
A successful Product Information Management (PIM) solution needs to be fully integrated with your organization’s other vital business systems – back-office accounting, eCommerce, CRM and others. It’s also important that your product database be updated, so customers can see real-time pricing, inventory and other details around the clock. eJeeva has expertise in helping manufacturers, distributors and retailers manage and optimize product data. These include images, documents, technical specifications and other vital product information. This is critical as organizations can search for products easily and eliminate the duplication of information. Wholesale distributors need Product Information Management software that can source data from a single database and make it available to other divisions across the organization at all times. Cost savings and efficiencies will realized by sharing up-to-date content for print and web catalogs, sales literature and product brochures. The Product Information Management software will help distributors make faster decisions based on accurate data.
Going Mobile: Is it too late?
Less than 5 years ago, the question of whether distributors needed to target consumers over mobile applications was easy: No need…a waste of time and money. Today, the question is not whether distributors need to “go mobile”; the question is “Is it too late?” With the explosion of mobile applications — comprising of nearly 50% of sales orders globally — distributors worldwide have made an aggressive move to market their product catalogs over mobile devices. Specifically, 50% of adults in the United States have a smartphone, while another 25% have tablet computers.The challenge is that some businesses have already established a robust mobile presence and have begun to reap the benefits: increased sales, customer loyalty with repeat business, and a new customer base comprised of the tech-savvy Generation Y group. Distributors with a strong mobile solution can enable their customers to shop and compare products, view inventory and pricing details, and track order status from any mobile application. Better yet, their mobile framework is fully integrated with their ERP, CRM and product catalogs. With the attrition rate of mobile applications continue to skyrocketing, there’s still time to get on board with a proven mobile solution…but the clock is ticking..
The 3 Keys to Successful Order Management: Integration, Integration, Integration
Organizations looking to reduce costs and improve efficiencies in their order management process have a formidable challenge. They typically have a large array of product catalogs, a CRM system, an accounting/ERP solution, and a semi-operational eCommerce website. The problem is that none of these pieces “talk” to each other. Customers view products on the website without accurate inventory and pricing details. Orders that are processed are manually entered into the accounting system (like P21). New products and promotions are manually updated on the website. These processes result in significant lag times, higher overhead costs and poor customer service. Manufacturers and distributors need a proven eCommerce provider to successfully integrate their order management process. The benefits include updated inventory and pricing details available to customers online; orders automatically tracked and processed; and increased customer satisfaction with easy check-out, filters and product comparison features.