USgift Gives Back

Staff -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 11/1/2000

USgift.com, an Atlanta-based Internet wholesale distributor of gifts and garden and home accessories, has introduced a new order-entry software package for sales reps. The sales force automation software, which was unveiled officially at High Point last month, allows reps who are meeting with retailers to scan product orders and transmit them to USgift's Web-based system for order tracking and processing and commission tracking. "We see that the sales rep is burdened with a lot of the paperwork that goes along with today's order process," said sales force automation manager Mark Eggers. "And, being a business-to-business Internet company, we are able to produce a software package that can truly automate all these reps."

Reps can obtain the software for free, provided they are partners of USgift. Happily, partnership with the company entails no costs for reps, and Eggers vows that the company will never charge a fee for use of the software. The only part of the deal that requires reps to dig into their pockets is the purchase of the hardware required to use the system: a laptop computer, a barcode scanner, and a portable printer. And, Eggers noted, "I've gone out and partnered with Dell and IBM and negotiated some special pricing for agencies that decide to use the sales force automation software."

What does USgift get out of all this? Enhanced relationships with sales reps and manufacturers, and a simplification of the order process on all sides. "It saves time and increases the order accuracy, and it helps increase sales volume because it's able to save time and capture more SKUs electronically," Eggers said. "This tool is not only to help create a mobile office for the sales reps, but to help the sales reps become not order-takers anymore, but really consultants who are informed and up to date on.what they are selling within their territory." The software is also intended to reduce administrative overhead. Eggers compared the system set up by USgift with a scenario in which each of the company's roughly 70 sales agency partners employed its own software system: "If each one of these sales agencies were to automate itself, you'd have 70 sales agencies asking suppliers to send out information and updates to them, and it would become very cumbersome and resource-heavy for the supplier. Now the suppliers have one single source to send the information to."

According to Eggers, there has always been a demand for order-entry software tailored to the gift and decorative accessory industry, but the need hadn't been filled because the individual rep groups couldn't shoulder the expense required to develop and maintain such software. USgift is committed to fully supporting the system and those who use it. "It's a huge responsibility for us, when we're rolling this out and giving it away," Eggers explained. "The agencies are trusting us that we're going to help them change the way that they're doing business..We understand that the sales reps, if they're in front of a retailer, can't have problems..They've got to have a human being to talk to at a moment's notice if they're in front of a retailer or if they're on the road."

Another likely concern of sales reps is security. After all, USgift is talking about putting all of a rep's order data up on the Web, a place that events over last few years have demonstrated is not 100 percent safe. Eggers responded that USgift has put encryption in place that is stronger than the encryption used in bank ATM transactions. He also said that safeguards will keep different rep groups' accounts separate, so that each group will only be able to view the information from the retailers and manufacturers that it's authorized to deal with.

Although at press time the sales force automation software was in the pilot stage and was only being used by one rep group, Eggers said that several other agencies had expressed interest. As he sees it, this rollout fits in with the broad trends that are affecting sales representatives today. Referring back to previous interviews in this column with former Russ Berrie exec Chris Collins and David Sands of Toland (page 16, June 2000, and page 14, July 2000, respectively), Eggers agreed that "the sales forces out there are changing and the industry is changing, and there's a lot of venture capital money coming in, and there's a lot of technology that's changing." He framed USgift's new offering as an attempt to balance those things with its belief that belly-to-belly selling isn't going to go away. "The bottom line is that USgift believes that the sales rep is an essential part of the supply chain," Eggers concluded.

If you're a rep or a manufacturer, we want to hear from you. To share breaking news, issues of concern, or even input on what you'd like to see on this page, contact Eliza Gallo at (212) 519-7358 or egallo@cahners.com.