Tech That Connects
New technologies connect vendors to reps to retailers to consumers.
By Meredith Schwartz -- Gifts and Dec, 12/1/2009 12:00:00 AM
Today's technology trends have two things in common: helping people connect and making the independent retailers' job easier. Where once technological innovations in the gift industry tended to focus on a single channel — vendors, reps or retailers — today's biggest developments are all about connecting those three with each other and the end consumer, too.
BWConnect
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BWConnect.com |
Brandwise is no stranger to the gift world, offering sales software solutions to vendors and reps — and mining the data thus provided to put together a comparative tradeshow index for GHTA members. But now the company is launching a tool for retailers, called BWConnect.com. BWConnect is expected to roll out by December 1 in conjunction with the GHTA, but will do "the big push in January," according to Todd Litzman, president of Brandwise.
The offering consists of a business-to-business e-commerce site which "ensures full transparency to reps and suppliers." Online orders are directed to the sales rep of record as well as the supplier. "It keeps sales reps' retailer relationships intact, because it enforces territory rules, so reps that rep it on the ground, rep it online," says Litzman. "No one is cut out of the picture."
Indeed, reps can generate suggested orders on their laptops and send them to retailers, who can edit and submit them. Retailers can also see their full order history with any Brandwise client vendor, or their entire history if they are a Sales Optimizer client.
Using the service will always be free to retailers and reps; it is also free to the first 25 vendors for the first 12 months. So far, says Litzman, "I've got 10–15" vendors already on board. He aims to have 50 by the end of the year. But that's a target, not a maximum: "If we can get 100, that's great." vendors will be charged a 1 percent transaction fee, capped at a maximum of $250.
Retailers can search by supplier or product type, and can buy from a gallery view or flip catalogs. But BWConnect offers retailers more than another place to shop. One major feature is that it is accessible to consumers. But rather than driving them to purchase directly from vendors, or to retailers who carry the line but may or may not have the particular item, the site will ask for the consumer's zip code and "pop up a detail screen that says these five stores bought this SKU and how many they bought," according to Litzman. (For Sales Optimizer clients it will even say how many shipped on what date; for others, the vendor can specify an average delivery time.) Stores can sell merchandise before it even arrives. (Consumers don't get to see pricing information.)
In addition to retailers and vendors driving consumers to the site, Litzman is looking "to partner with a company that has the information. We'll end up looking for a company outside of our industry that has the consumer ear."
SnapRetail
National sales agency OneCoast is splitting into three companies on January 1: OneCoast will handle nationwide accounts and HomeStyle — merged with Ivystone — will handle regional accounts. The biggest departure is the third company. Known as SnapRetail and headed by OneCoast CEO Ted Teele, the company offers an automated solution for email marketing, social networking and Web commerce to independent gift retailers.
SnapRetail will offer an expanded online marketplace, SnapRetail.com, to enable retailers to research and source products, and will include lines from sales agencies and vendors not affiliated with the OneCoast family. The marketplace will build on the success of OneCoast's existing online sales, which came to about $5.5 million this year, more than doubling last year's approximately $2 million. Like BWConnect, SnapRetail also plans to promote to vendors through the GHTA.
In addition, beginning April 1, SnapRetail will offer the Traffic Builder marketing system, which provides retailers with monthly automated emails sent directly to their customers promoting brands they carry. It also provides content for customized, on-demand e-newsletters (created with a simple drag-and-drop) and Twitter and Facebook posts. Vendors can provide content for retailer customers for free, whether or not they have a sales relationship with OneCoast, and choose which retailers qualify to use it. Participating stores can try the service for 90 days free, before being charged a fee, which is yet to be announced. SnapRetail is also considering bundling in e-commerce website services for retailers.
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Synqcard and reader |
Synqware
Like many of our readers, Synqware is in the card business — only in this case it is scannable, not greeting, cards. "Since time immemorial buyers have been loading up on paper on their way to every show, business cards and credit references, and inevitably they run out. By having all their data stored in an RFID chip it obviates the need for paper," explained Brett Goldberg, founder of Synqware.
The Synqcard holds an RFID chip similar to that found in the new design of U.S. passports. That means enough storage to present not only name and address, like the barcode scannable badges found at many shows, but everything that is usually found in a new buyer application, including how long the store has been in business, credit references, lines carried and lines of interest. Another advantage of the Synqcard is that, while badge-scanning results generally go into a stand-alone lead retrieval device, Synqware puts all the data into a text file, which the order-writing system can access — or, for reps and vendors still writing orders by hand, can be printed out as a buyer information sheet which gets stapled to the order.
The card and reader are rolling out at the January 2010 Atlanta market. "I am hoping by the January show to have 20 key showrooms participating from the 14th, 17th and 18th floors, and we are hoping that will create the critical mass for everyone else to jump on board. Those showrooms will also be the distribution points for buyers to get their cards," said Goldberg. Showrooms already on board include Gib Carson and Fox Premier Sales.
Goldberg continued, "We are targeting Atlanta because we see it as the hub of the gift industry. We hope to roll out to other marts after that, as well as non-mart shows in convention halls. A buyer can keep the card forever and, we hope, ultimately use it everywhere." Cards are free to buyers, at least for now; participating vendors pay an annual subscription, which works out to $25 per month.
For those concerned about protecting privacy, no credit card information is included, and Goldberg says, "With the technology we use, you have to get within one inch to scan," making unauthorized data gathering unlikely. Synqware will maintain a list of lost cards, and if someone tries to use a card reported lost, it will be flagged. In addition, buyers have the option of maintaining their record online and if they lose a card, Synqware can link a new number to that record.
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POWERpass software |
POWERpass
Ideation — best known to the gift industry as a major catalog provider with its own buying meeting — is in the card business too. But the POWERpass card is designed for retailers to give to customers, not suppliers. And it's not just for Ideation members — it's not even limited to gift stores, though Wendy Robison, POWERpass sales manager, says most POWERpass customers have been Ideation members so far. POWERpass handles loyalty programs with or without a physical card, as well as gift cards, offering an alternative to programs that keep vendors tied to a particular credit card processing provider. It can also handle layaway. Consumers can sign up online as well as check their balances, and every time they have a POWERpass transaction they get an automatic email saying thank you for your visit, this is how many points you earned and this is what you're this much closer to.
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POWERpass card |
POWERpass provides customized gift cards to stores that want them, as well as key tags, for 60 cents to $1.50 per card depending on "how crazy they get with it," says Robison. But the first 500 or so cards will be included in the startup costs, which range from $400–$1,300 depending on the services included. After that, monthly costs range from $59–$149. The minimum package, which includes gift cards, is a $999 startup and a $99 monthly fee. But don't let those numbers scare you; the startup fee can be spread over 12 months, with no interest, and includes the first three months' subscription.
"There's a lot of programs that are based on how many customers or how many times they use the card, but I don't want the store to be cringing every time they swipe that card," Robison explains. "There's a lot of merchants that I talk to that are getting nickeled and dimed to death by their gift card providers. We try to make it as affordable as possible because we totally believe that it is going to increase their revenue, and not only are their customers going to love it, they're going to expect it."
While return on investment varies, Robison says those who use the program a lot report that POWERpass customers spend about 30–35 percent more per quarter than non-POWERpass customers. "Some of our largest users [are] seeing their money back in the first quarter. There's a store I just got started three months ago and they're already reordering cards," says Robison.
Still Standing
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A .pdf portfolio of Sullivan's product, created by Whereoware |
In addition to these new introductions, well known technology companies continue to transform the marketplace. Whereoware has been working with the gift industry long enough to measure how it is changing its use of the Web. Adam Schrier, executive director of marketing and business development of Whereoware, told Gifts & Decorative Accessories, "There's no doubt that Internet growth has been exploding for years. Almost everybody has an informational website, and online ordering business-to-business is becoming very commonplace. Two years ago the rule of thumb was that 5 percent of your independent online sales should be coming across your website. Today we talk about 7.5 percent, moving to 10 percent. We think it will move to 15 percent in the next two to three years. Some people are doing 30 percent."
To help achieve these goals, Whereoware introduced two new content creation catalog tools, which can be used by retailers, vendors or sales reps. The user finds the products they want to feature on the site, puts them into a wishlist portfolio and then creates a branded pdf, with or without pricing information, which can be sent from rep to retailer or from retailer to consumer. The second tool, called page builder, is similar but with more graphic capabilities for the marketing department, and can create digital presentations.
Schrier gave an example of how online orders supplement offline: "Sadek, my former life and home, is in New Rochelle, NY. The closest physical customer is a mile and a half away. Two weeks ago, she put through a $200 reorder through the website even though she comes and calls all the time. Why did she do it that way? It was 9:40 p.m. That's how the world is changing."
In addition, he said, "Our most advanced customers are now adding what we call portals to their websites to provide all the information they could get from calling customer service," such as what's in stock, order history, and ship dates.
Shopatron has also been around long enough to study how its model of connecting vendor, retailer and consumer is impacting retail. (Shopatron takes consumer orders from vendor catalogs, processes credit cards and arranges for fulfillment by participating retailers. If more than one retailer responds, Shopatron automatically selects the store located closest to the consumer.) A benchmarking study conducted by Shopatron found that retailers spend more with brands that send online orders via Shopatron. Some 66 percent said they increase spending with brands sharing e-commerce sales with retailers. A third of Shopatron retailers agreed that over-the-counter sales of Shopatron-enabled brands increased due to increased stocking for e-commerce orders. As soon as a vendor signs up with Shopatron, 5 percent of retailers immediately increase their spending a little. If not already stocking the brand, 6 percent place an opening order right away. And with a tight economic climate only increasing retailers' emphasis on using the technology: 65 percent of retailers said Shopatron was either "More Important" or "Extremely Important" in a challenging economy.
Another longstanding player, Ayr1, in business since 1999, focuses on making independent retailers visible to consumers searching for particular products. "With the Internet, consumers seek out products differently now. If a retailer is not present on the Internet, they risk invisibility with the consumers in their local markets," says Sev Ritchie, executive vice president of Ayr1. Ayr1 puts all the products a retailer is authorized to sell on their website, as well as focusing on search engine optimization, so consumers searching for a specific product will find the indie retailer, as well as their big box or Web-only competitors.
Your Business is Their Business
For independent gift and home retailers, one of the silver linings of the recession has been an increased emphasis by vendors, reps and other industry players on going the extra mile to help retailers run their businesses more efficiently and more profitably, since they are the base on which the rest of the industry's stability, and indeed survival, rests. "Our industry has traditionally done a strong job with selling products to retailers," said Teele. "However, it has done less well in helping independent retailers sell through these products to consumers. SnapRetail's goal is to assist retailers in making money by improving the 'sell through' of the lines they carry."
Litzman concurs with the goal: "This will empower retailers to stay in business; if they stay in business, everybody stays in business." However he disagrees with SnapRetail's method: "As you look at what people are talking about to help retailers get to consumers, some people are saying, let's blast out email, but there are problems with that. One is that small independent retailers don't typically have email addresses, the other is, as a consumer, how many emails do you want to get?"
The bottom line is, an array of new and established affordable technological solutions aim to help retailers run their businesses better, not by replacing the personal touch, but by extending beyond it to times and places where it can't easily reach. While not every solution will prove to be right for every retailer, their cheap-to-free cost of entry makes them definitely worth a try.
BWConnect • www.bwconnect.com
SnapRetail • www.snapretail.com
Synqware • www.synqware.com
POWERpass • www.powerpassloyalty.com
Whereoware • www.whereoware.com
Shopatron • www.shopatron.com
Ayr1 • www.ayr1.com
CEPA Technologies • www.cepatechnologies.com
Intuit • mobilepayment.intuit.com
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