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5 Signs Your Enterprise Needs a Robust PIM Platform

Today, PIM plays an important role in the final decision-making stage in the consumer’s buying experience. The Product Information Management, aka, PIM, adds value to customer experience by delivering accurate and consistent data, thus generating revenue. A superior PIM software provides an omnichannel experience and a seamless integration and availability of product information across multiple channels.

There are a multitude of open source PIM platforms available today.

Here are 5 significant signs to look out for, to see if your company is in dire need of a robust PIM.

Spreadsheets is old school

Major drawback of working with spreadsheet is the lack of synchronization.

With the lack of a centralized platform, data entry & type of data entry will tend to vary depending on the individual at that point in time working with the company.

The old school way of product documentation and sharing is thus inaccurate, obsolete and inconsistent.

Dynamic product data

Products get updated all the time. Hence product content also needs updating. Handling millions of products and constant updating requires manpower on the job constantly.

They monitor, track and record all data transactions and filter out wrong data.

This tedious job affects the productivity of the employees. With the time and energy wasted on this, there is a loss of revenue as well.

Customer service calls

When wrong data is circulated across all systems, the customer too looks at wrong data and buys the product. Once the product is delivered he realises that this product doesn’t fit his need.

Unhappy customers give bad feedback, leading to poor customer experience. This will effect your brand and revenue ultimately.

From inventory management, to order placement, to order processing and ultimately delivery, if you are unable to govern and check data quality at every step, you will not be able to convert potential customers smoothly – or worse, lose the existing ones.

Wrong decision calls

With wrong data floating in the system, decisions are hampered at every touch point. The relationship between data quality, and decision accuracy is tightly knit together.

The departments entrusted with the strategy-making for the company’s future will rely on data to make these decisions. When the data itself is wrong, the decisions also do not serve any purpose. Wrong data does not point you in the right direction.

Historical data and current data is mighty useful in learning buying patterns, cost breakdown & predictive analysis amongst many more.

Geographical management of data

When your brand/store is big and covers many geographical locations, using a PIM makes more sense.

Managing spreadsheets across various departments, spread across locations with the content being updated constantly, the human is bound to make an error. This can be especially challenging when the sales teams are handling the clients directly face2face.

The volume and consumption of data has increased to great lengths in the last couple of years.

In the age of digital transformation high quality, accurate , standardized, properly formatted data is necessary for you to have a competitive advantage over other retailers.

Using a PIM, helps you manage SKU numbers, description, pricing, images and much more product information across many channels. Altius Technologies specializes in setting up the right PIM for businesses.

 For a free consultation about setting up your PIM.

 

 

Get in touch with us
 

Saravanan Baskaran

Observant to enrich & generate revenue for e-stores with the right product content and other SaaS Solutions.

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How Artificial Intelligence will be helpful for B2B Marketers/Distributors?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has grown in leaps and lengths in the last few years. Though B2C marketers were the first to use AI in their marketing efforts, B2B marketers are not too far behind.

Let us see the emerging B2B marketing trends in the area of AI.

Digital Marketing using AI

Businesses are forced to adopt evolving marketing trends to survive and be relatable to the end consumer. Using AI in digital marketing strategies, will lead the way this 2020.

The influence of AI can be seen in machine learning and automation of smarter B2B campaigns. Since B2C has been using AI to learn consumer behaviour, the same can be applied by B2B as well.

Marketers can use AI to map consumer behaviour and draw parallels to their marketing campaigns. With social media being thrown into this mix, the results would be extremely beneficial to B2B marketers.

Lead generation

With the advent of social media, the use of AI has only maximised. AI tools can instantly analyse huge sets of data, in search patterns, and find inconsistencies and opportunities.

By considering past learning, the conclusion and prediction accuracy is high. Hence, AI has high chances of identifying a B2B customer, at the same time also suggesting how to reach out to him.

Integration of AI in the sales process will only increase lead conversion. As a great time-saver, with the help of AI , sales teams can concentrate on other areas of business.

Digital marketing industry, by 2023, will spend almost 25.1 billion USD on automation tools. Also, 79% of top-performing companies are already leveraging AI-based marketing automation tools, thereby leading to a 10% bump in revenue in only 6-9 months.

Automating marketing processes

By embedding AI in CRM databases, tasks like cold- calling, cold-emailing, answering customer tickets can all be automated.

Research proves that 80% of the sales force’s time is spent in carrying out monotonous activities, that can be prevented with the inclusion of AI in their respective CRM.

SEO rankings

The use of SEO in B2B companies cannot be stressed further. If you don’t rank in Google, all is lost for your company. With Google being responsible for 94% of internet traffic, it only makes sense to be present in the search engine results.

Businesses must try to rank in the first page of the search engine results, since research shows that 75% of the users do not go further than the first page.

With AI’s use of website and keyword analysis, high ranking SEO words will be suggested. AI can also audit your website and provide suggestions on word inclusions across the site for better ranking SEO.

It can also make changes to your content for better optimization. With the use of AI’s machine learning capability, we see great potential for business growth.

Personalization

Customers have greater affinity towards personalized emails targeted to them specifically. AI can increase relevancy of email , messages and ads based on specific sets of data.

AI can carry out email campaigns, ads and pop-up messages to market specific industrial tools and services to those in needs. The potential of personalization for B2B clientele is virtually endless for AI.

Most of the above-mentioned tricks and trades are already in practice in some B2B companies.

Where as SME’s are yet to adopt AI based marketing tools. Considering the usage of AI in B2B companies’ marketing strategies, choosing t will be the right choice for those who believe in evolving their B2B companies to sustain and stay relatable in the future.

Get a free audit of your B2B company’s website and see if you can be AI friendly now.

 

Sulak B

eCommerce Strategist helping with effective eStore Product Data and increase conversions at Altius Technologies.

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Why eCommerce for Small and Medium Enterprises?

In the last few years, e-commerce has become one of the most preferred means of shopping. Be it B2C or B2B, customers have been spoilt for choice, price comparisons and delivery of products at their doorstep.

E-commerce has revolutionized the sales for small and medium enterprises. With geographical location not being an issue anymore, sales have seen an upward swing in the last couple of years, thanks to e-commerce.

Just like that, online shopping has now become more quick, convenient and more user-friendly.

If you are an SME and wondering if B2B e-commerce is the right way for you, there are a few things you need to consider:

Financial implications- Do you have what it takes to provide your customers an end to end online shopping experience.

Skilled IT Personnel team– To run an online store, you need a team of IT personnel to keep it up and running.

Operation architecture- Decide on your operating model architecture. From where you would source, store and sell your products. Operational structure is the foundation for the success of your e-store.

Risk-taker- Even if your e-store has the right products, product content, and in enriched with SEO keywords, it will still take time for a complete turnaround. So don’t lose hope. You may have to wait it out.

Management/board support- Without the collaborative effort from each member of your team, no store or e-store can be successful. If even one member does not comply with your thought and ideas related to e-store investment, you may have a problem brewing there for the future.

Legal assistance- Make sure you hire a lawyer to draft your sales policies and partnership policies if any. You do not want future customers dragging you to court for a faulty product or service.

Technology research to stay updated- Make sure you have done enough research product wise and technology wise in the market. You do not want to be out-dated as soon as you launch. Being up-to-date is key in managing a successful e-store.

Physical Infrastructure-Make sure you have the physical infrastructure needed to run an e-store. You will still need an office space for your small member teams to operate from or even a warehouse to store your products.

Government rules & policies- Every country has s different policy towards managing their internet accessibility and online sales. Make sure you adhere to the rules and regulations put out by the government.

Choosing the right e-commercesolution- Though this may sound as the most important of the 10 step check list, this is the most taken-for granted point by many start-ups.

  • Make sure your have an inbuilt software algorithm to map customer behaviour. This will help you understand consumer behaviour better. Recording the purchase journey of every customer will give you unfiltered access to insights that can be used for making future strategic decisions.
  • Categorization of products, creation of promotional email, targeted email campaigns etc., should be carried out in seasonally. Make sure the solution’s architecture supports this.
  • Some products’ demands may peak during certain times of the year. The solution you opt for should be able to handle these sudden demands.
  • The solution should be scalable enough to increase product numbers or be open to any upgrades in the years to come.
  • Make sure your solution provides a seamless buying experience for your customers. Given that B2C is now taking precedence and making a benchmark in online shopping, make sure the B2B shopping experience you provide is close enough to a B2C seasoning and sophistication.

Yes, there are many benefits in choosing the B2B e-commerce way.

Such as,

Low operating budget- Running an e-commerce store is much more financially viable compared to running a brick and mortar store. Consider the expenditure you would be shedding for the physical store itself, along with the sales force and operating cost.

Having an e-store, you only need a small office space, with the right technical people to run the show.

Increased ROI- With the absence of geographical limitations, the revenue you are bound to generate from an e-store is no comparison to a brick and mortar store.

You can capture new audiences everyday with the written feedback from your old and happy customers. With e-store functioning 24/7, you are open to different times zones and holidays all year long.

Social media Recommendation-With the boom of social media, customers happy with your product and service talk about their experience in social media platforms like Facebook, twitter, Pintrest, LinkedIn, Instagram and more.

This is an added advantage against the biggies in the industry, who usually do not have their customer recommendations working for them.

Learning consumer behaviour- In a mom & pop shop, small businesses are forced to assume and speculate over the purchase journey of a customer. With no fixed data to support his findings, he hovers around pre-conceived notions usually from big players in the same industry.

Having an e-store, with the right software algorithm in-built, helps you understand consumer behavior. How much time a specific consumer spends on a product, what he reads, which page he goes to, how much time he spends on a page, so on and so forth.

The insights are extensive and proves beneficial in making strategic choices for the future.

Larger marketing ROI- After saving so much cost, all that money can be diverted to marketing your e-store. Advertising worldwide, online or offline, you can drive customers to your e-store.

You can also create targeted marketing messages to specific customers, based on their behavioural data collected by your e-store whilst they were browsing through their purchase journey.

There are so many reasons pointing towards e-commerce being the next big idea you are going to work on for your SME’s lifecycle.

Make sure you hire a consultant who can help you lead the way.

For more queries and a free consult, Get in touch with us, Altius Technologies

 

 

Sulak B

eCommerce Strategist helping with effective eStore Product Data and increase conversions at Altius Technologies.

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Why Distributors Need to Think More Like E-Commerce Companies?

According to a survey conducted by Accenture, 86% of US-based B2B companies with over 500Million USD in annual returns have already implemented e-commerce solutions as part of their offerings. If you haven’t realized this yet, now is the time to wake up, before you miss the bus.

The emergence of e-commerce in the last 5years has made a drastic change in consumer behavior and expectations.

Since we can assume that our B2B customer will also be at some point a B2C customer, his needs- satisfaction scale has a higher benchmark today.

In order to sustain in the market and stay relevant to customers, many B2B marketers are forced to emulate ‘the thought’ and ‘digital ideas’ that have helped e-commerce companies provide a successful customer experience (CX), Omnichannel experience, provide a mobile-optimized site and having a 24/7 sales team and support.

Behold the growth of B2B eCommerce.

Need for Online Presence

Absence in the online world is good enough to be considered non-existent. If you want to survive this digital age you need to build your online website capable of making sales.

If this wasn’t enough, you also need to make sure that you are ‘approachable’.

Meaning- a seamless customer experience through easy navigation and easy to the eye designs across the site. Also, make sure you have the right content for every product you display.

As a distributor, if your competitive edge consists of your services, on-time delivery, and other value-added services, make sure you mention it on your home page. You need to stand out in the crowd.

Build Customer Trust

A first -time customer will always hesitate to buy a product. But by looking at the design and how you have marketed yourself on your home page, the customer may be inclined to go and view your products.

But, if you have done a sloppy job of providing low-res images and insufficient product content, the customer will exit your page immediately.

Hence, to avoid this blunder, make sure you provide accurate product content, tech specs, and also guidance notes, that would help the customer understand the other uses of a specific product. These qualifiable guidance notes might just take you to the home stretch.

Effective SEO

Today it’s all about SEO.

Search Engine Optimized keywords are KEY in writing product content. If your content words are not going to come up when somebody searches for a product, what use is your online presence.

Some B2B companies, use SEO keywords in writing their blogs & whitepapers. Google’s algorithm is much more likely to show a useful page than an e-commerce product page.

How do you do this?

Put yourself in your buyer’s shoes.

Imagine the toughest questions he may have for which you have the answers. Create a blog around this and publish it. Using effective SEO will help increase your B2B e-commerce sales.

Digital Upselling

As a brick and mortar distributor, your sales team will be in the habit of up-selling products to customers, claiming a future need that they may have. The same can be done in the digital world too.

Send email blasts– personalized your email blasts to customers who may need a specific product. Use limited language. Use a solution based content to get the maximum effect of your email.

Personalize suggested content– With the use of many tools online, you can reach out to your customer browsing your webpage with recommendations that you think he might like.

Digital Customer Service Acess

With e-commerce, some unlucky customers may have issues with drop shipments, or breakage of products during shipment.

Make sure you have a team to deal with this. Your customer needs to know that you understand his unhappiness and you are here to fix it. Bottom line- retain your customers. Do not lose him to the competition.

Increase Customer Service Accessibility Online

There are many tools online that one can use to create a chat screen or raise a ticket for issues.

The former tools can be placed as part of your home page, giving your customer easy accessibility to your sales & service team when he has a doubt or issue to be sorted.

Integrate your Systems

Small or big, you must unify all your information for better data management. This also helps in digital marketing and customer service efforts. Integrating all your information will save you unnecessary headaches and build long-lasting customer relationships.

Choosing the right CRM is key here.

Many world-famous B2B e-commerce companies known for their free drop shipping have implemented CRM for a seamless flow of information throughout the company.

Listen up Distributors

You are not the only B2B distributor in town. Certainly not in the online world either. The millennials go online, choose their requirement and get it shipped to them in a matter of minutes.

The whole sales process is completed in less than half the time needed in a brick & mortar store. If your standards and services do not meet the customer benchmark, you may lose to your competition.

It is very important to start alert, ahead and aware of your customer’s needs and choices.

Bringing out your very own e-commerce store is the need of the hour! Having said that, you also need to go that extra mile to satisfy your customers in every possible way from service offerings, product offerings and after-sales help to retain and build your customer loyalty online.

Choosing an entity/agency to handle your website requirements would be the smart thing to do.

Altius Technologies has helped many B2B distributors, set up their e-commerce store with a unique and flawless seamless design.

Book a Demo
 

Govindaraj L

Responsible for Data Quality and Revenue Generation at Altius Technologies

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Why outsource your e-commerce catalog management?

As an e-commerce retailer, you would very well understand how important it is to have a detailed product description and tech specs for all your products. Considering the plethora of products, you are dealing with, keeping up with updated information is a challenge.

The information is becoming redundant and managing this data becomes a time-consuming and costly affair.

Below are the challenges that you face when it comes to managing your e-commerce product catalog.

Constant Product Updation

With new products coming up every day and old products being refurbished, it is necessary you have updated product content for all your products at any given time.

You may end up setting up a team just to handle this everyday chaos. Instead, invest in an outsourced team that could be on a constant lookout for product updation.

By doing so you can concentrate on expanding your venture and focussing on marketing, operations, branding and customer relations.

Providing an Omnichannel Experience

Every seller would agree that if you are selling your products at multiple market places, the biggest challenge is listing the products simultaneously.

The main challenge is that every site has its own specification that it requires you to adhere to.

When you try to fit your product information as per the required marketplace’s framework, you are bound to miss out on some critical information about the product.

This will in-turn hurt your reputation and hurt the customer’s decision-making process.

Most sellers do not understand that there might be an easier way to display all the product information consistently across all marketplaces, thus making sure all the required information is intact.

Expert agencies focus on creating such detailed information that sellers can use.

Hiring these experts could help you in your marketplace listings.

The Right Supplier Data

If you are a re-seller, you should know how important it is to get the right supplier data.

More importantly, publish the supplier’s data. Most suppliers hand over products to re-sellers with bare minimum information about the product.

There are sometimes even spelling errors in this information shared

This nuisance needs to be fixed by the re-seller. He knows that by showcasing minimum or errored information will take a toll on his sales and company’s brand value.

Finding a way to dodge this bullet could be helpful in the long run.

Maintaining Data Quality

It is difficult to maintain data quality when you are dealing with millions of products, across multiple channels and working with supplier data.

Your product information can have wrong spellings, wrong information, wrong descriptions or even attributes.

Managing all this information on Excel can be an overwhelming experience.

You need to understand that Excel was not built for catalog management. You need to look out for robust content management tools to manage this amount of data.

You will also end up employing a team to handle this amount of information. Their sole purpose of work would be only constant updation with the right information.

This might not prove beneficial in the long run.

You will be wasting your time and money on something that can be outsourced, thus saving both time and money.

Choosing experts to deal with this amount of information could prove beneficial to you.

Centralize your Information- PIM

If there is one thing that you have learned in all this Gyan, is that centralizing your information holds the key to proper catalog management.

Choosing the right PIM according to the kind of data you currently have and the option of scalability every PIM could offer should be kept in mind before investing in a PIM solution.

The painful process of searching products for updating their related information across multiple channels, could be easily avoided using the right PIM.

The right PIM would have you update only at one point and share that information across multiple internal and external channels.

Do you see yourself facing all the above-mentioned problems day to day?

Are you looking for advice on selecting the right PIM?

We can help you.

Get a Demo
 
 

Ravinthar R

Asses e-stores and recommend revenue-generating SaaS solutions from Altius Technologies.

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How to boost your Christmas sales using Marketing Tips?

With 20% of annual sales is connected to the Christmas period, brands and retailers optimize their marketing spends around this time.

If one doesn’t do so, there is always the risk of losing customers to more aggressive players. Here are a few pointers to boost your e-commerce Christmas sale.

1. Create a sense of urgency

Though this may sound very B2C, creating a sense of urgency like ‘one 2 left in stock’ surprisingly increases sales.

Many popular B2C marketplaces use this tactic. This should prove useful to a B2B e-store owner as well.

2. Get in touch with old customers

A happy customer is always a good customer. Reminding an old customer from your database through email, on the products he purchased and the value- added services you provided, will jog his memory.

Sending a personal wish along with a discount coupon around the Christmas feel, or just updating them on the new stock you are selling now, will give your old customers a good feeling about you.

Managing your brand health at any time of the year, is key for sales.

3. Do not over-concentrate your budget around the Christmas dates

Research shows that although search volume and clicks go up during the cyber weekend a significant percentage of shoppers don’t convert until the following week.

Hence, it is advisable to spread your budget through the cyber week, leading upto Christmas.

This will help you convert higher-intent shoppers who are ready to make the final purchase, based on the research they had done the previous week.

4. Offer free shipping on selected items

Research shows that a vast majority of shoppers look for free shipping instead of discounts on products. In-order to capitalize on this incentive, draw a formula around the products your sell.

I am sure, you would have products in your stock, that have a high retail value, but low shipping costs.

You can offer free shipping on such products for a limited period. IF this does not work out, offer free shipping to those who make a minimum dollar purchase.

5. Use popular keywords

SEO forms a base to a multitude of searched items on the internet.

Make sure you use popular keywords in your e-store’s content to get maximum hits.

Use relevant and popular keywords. Plan your Christmas marketing strategy around these optimized keywords.

6. Referral program

Using a referral program with a code to happy customers, is a great way to increase your customer base.

Satisfied customers are bound to share this code with family and friends, thus increasing your potential sales for the holiday season.

This is a great way to increase your sales and profits without much thought.

7. Social Media strategy

The power of social media is limitless. Identify social media channels that get maximum number of ‘your kind of visitors’.

Next, plan an e-commerce marketing strategy in a social media platform and communicate what needs to be heard.

Appealing to your target audience in the right environment in key to doing great marketing.

Make sure your profile and all communications has the ‘Christmas feeling’ to it. Imagery, content and the design should all shout out, ‘Merry Christmas’!

8. Using the right content

We all know that Christmas is often an excuse to buy new things. Target people who believe in this by using keywords like ‘Christmas Deals’, ‘Holiday shopping deals’, ‘Must buy Christmas gifts’ etc.

Your content should excite and educate your target audience. Your content should drive your target audience to your website.

Beyond that they are free to make an informed decision on their own.

9. Your special customers get special rewards

Many B2C retailers have now started to attract and keep their special/high profit customers happy by showcasing deals before everybody else gets to see. The same can be applied in B2B aswell.

Contact your sharks and make sure they get codes, coupons and limited access deals to products unlike the usual customers.

Using this tactic, helps you get your word-of-mouth marketing going amongst similar customers and you also make sure your sharks are happy.

10. Stock up!

You need to stock up well before December. Make sure you get the right warehouse and shipping third party details to send out stock as and when the purchase is made.

All this, so that you do not want to put up ‘ Out of stock’ against some products.

If you know that there is going to be demand for a certain kind of product, make sure you stock some extra.

When you are unable to deliver goods that are purchased, it reflects bad on you and your brand. Don’t let that happen!

11. Bundle up products

Give your users the power of choice. When you bundle up products that could together give your customer a massive discount over and above the holiday discount, he is sure to clear some products from your warehouse.

Bundle up products that you think may serve the similar purpose or go together as a set. This is a tactical way to push inventory and save shipping costs.

12. Customer reviews

Research shows that at least 85% of online shoppers consider, product feedback and customer reviews before making the final purchase decision.

In this holiday rush, people are bound to be reading customer feedback on products before doing their research on other brands’ of products.

Make sure your have positive feedback and appealing customer reviews to enable positive purchase decisions.

13. Seamless shopping experience

Make sure your product pages are updated with the right product content, High-res images are uploaded and of course your webpage loads effortlessly on a desktop or on a mobile device.

Make sure there are no broken pages.

Providing an easy to navigate and informed e-store increases to chances of purchase from visitors. Remember, customer engagement is key!

The above mentioned are mere ideas.

Ideas brought to life, increases your profits. As an online seller, make sure you hire the right team to get the job done.

You are one whole month ahead of the holiday season.

Make sure your e-store is Christmas ready this 2019, by partnering with Altius Technologies.

Providing end to end solutions for e-stores, Altius can help you with data enrichment, catalog management, e-store designs, payment gateways, thus — increasing profits this holiday season.

To know more,

Get in touch with us
 
 

Gladys Christabel

Helping B2B companies to Generate results in search engines, Social Media and Content Marketing.

Business people rushing towards success

Upcoming B2B marketing trends, this 2020

The B2B marketing trends has seen extensive growth in the last 5 years. But the industry has hit a roadblock in directional thinking in the last 2 years.

eg., In order to collect product data, without gauging importance of the kind of data that could be uploaded, most companies now have a huge amount of data in their hands. Most of this data is not relevant to the end consumer.

Learning from failures, 2020 will see a new generation of informed B2B marketers whose choices and decisions would be based on information and strategies.

Marketing Technology Systems

Most businesses have a multitude of marketing technology system in place. If not one, the other would do the intended job.

This 2020, will see the rise of the ‘all-in-one’ marketing technology systems that would be able to do a multitude of solutions. Systems that don’t provide much value will be scrapped.

As a result of this, B2B web developers will see a good year. New solutions will be introduced providing high quality user experience.

Theme-sites is going to be a No Go

Keeping in mind that most B2B businesses now focus on brand identity and extensive online user experience, one can conclude that theme- based word-press designs will be obsolete.

With multiple websites using the same theme, viewers have now started to find it boring to say the least, thus resulting in a lack of interest in viewing the website itself.

B2B businesses, now are ready to invest in custom made website designs, that resonate their beliefs and products they sell.

Focus on the right data

With the need of data to share with their customers, B2B businesses have been collecting data for the last couple of years.

After doing so, it has been found out with much deliberation, that most companies now a huge amount of data to deal with.

So they are looking at managing the right data. scrapping data could be a tedious yet very resourceful in the end.

2020 will see businesses make data driven strategic decisions.

Customer centric

2020 will see the rise of customer centric software and websites. Most websites will focus on providing customer centric online experience.

Combined with the sole reason to get the end customer’s attention, all strategies will based on consumer behaviour and the related science.

Google Ads

With easy accessibility to Google ads, now every B2B an B2C that can be documented and verified on the success rates. When you decide that you can pay Google for every click, Google will decide where and how to show the ad.

Most multi dollar companies, have a huge budget for online advertising. Utilizing this budget can have a positive impact on your business revenue. Keeping in mind SEO, SEM and other digital marketing services could prove beneficial to your 2020 online gameplan.

Sales Vs Marketing

2020 will see the amalgamation of sales and marketing under one roof. With both being interdependent, you will be trying to reach out hyperspecialized targets.

Using demographics and predictive behaviour, targeted marketing techniques will be developed to reach out to the right decision-making individuals.

Gaining better understanding of the prospect will help B2B companies develop precise strategies that could be deployed.

Not all Content is useful content

People have been writing content for the last couple of years for the sake of writing content. Believing that content marketing is the most important form of marketing, marketers have been uploading junk in the name of content the last 3years.

2020, will see the undo of this culture. Content will be directed towards providing valuable information. High quality content will be produced keeping in mind the evolved B2B consumer, who can now differentiate valuable content against trash.

2020 will see the boom of the evolved B2B consumer who can differentiate faff from quality content. Focussing on brand, targeted marketing and talking the right words, would prove beneficial for your

Looking to play the game right, this 2020?

Altius Technologies can help you with the rules of the game

 
Get a Demo

Ashok V

Online R&D of e-stores, Revenue Generation Consultant at Altius Technologies

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Choosing the right eCommerce Platform – Dos and Don’ts

Today, the best way for a business to reach out to its target customers is to go online. However, simply putting your product list on the internet is not going to be of any help. You need to plan and strategize in a way to offer your customers the same shopping experience that one can get while shopping in a physical store. And to do that, one needs to select the best possible platform to launch their eCommerce business. Once you get the right things right, you can then start off by putting the digital advantages to use like automation and streamlining of manual tasks. One must always remember that eCommerce can be as challenging and demanding as any other type of business. Choosing the right eCommerce platform is highly crucial to determine the success ratio of your business.In this article, we will look at the various dos and don’ts of choosing the right eCommerce platform for your online business. An eCommerce platform acts as a spine for any online retail business and helps you compete online. Forrester has predicted that B2B eCommerce transactions will reach a whopping $1.5 trillion by 2021. Whether B2B or B2C, eCommerce platform helps you streamline all your business facets like vendors/suppliers, customers, and employees. It helps you execute complex business functions like inventory management, CRM, payment, and so on. Before we figure out ways of choosing the right eCommerce platform for your online business, let us look at the different types of eCommerce platforms available.

Fully Customizable

This type of eCommerce platform requires you to appoint a team internally or externally in order to develop it. Only niche businesses that have their own specifications and requirements tend to go for this type of eCommerce platforms.

Traditional Platforms

This type of eCommerce platform has a license that must be purchased and renewed periodically. The team can then work on the platform to customize it as per their requirements and then install it on cloud or on-premise.

Open Source Platforms

They are similar to traditional platforms except there is no need to purchase the license. However, you may have to pay for the initial development, implementation, ongoing development, upgrades, and migration.

Cloud Platforms

These eCommerce platforms are hosted on the cloud. Like traditional and open-source platforms cloud platforms also require regular maintenance and installation of upgrades.

SaaS Platforms

This eCommerce platform is generally built on a single codebase. Hence, it offers the same technology for a fixed monthly fee. Once you make up your mind about the type of e-commerce platform that seems suitable for your business, you must start considering the following points to choose the right eCommerce. Here is a list of dos and don’ts you must take into account while choosing the right eCommerce platform.

Dos

  • The different types of costs – Direct and Indirect. Direct costs include license fee, renewal fee, development costs, and the initial cost of site-building. The indirect are maintenance costs, UI & UX changes costs, upgrading costs, and the addition of new features or improvement costs.
  • The different tools you will need to run the business. That will be the determining factor to decide the plugins for the eCommerce website. Some examples of useful plugins are Accounting plugins, Email marketing tools, Apps to help in shipping and reward the customers, etc.
  • The right eCommerce platform must be SEO friendly, allowing you to post a blog, or enabling your customers to leave a review. Being SEO friendly ensures that your website ranks high on the search engine.
  • The right eCommerce platform must allow you to mobile-optimize your website. Since more than 60% of the searches are done from mobile devices, and most of those searches end up in purchases, it is important to make your eCommerce website mobile friendly.
  • The right eCommerce platform must offer an exceptional user interface. Offering a memorable shopping experience to your customers will help you in customer retention. Always remember, having an eCommerce business online is no different from owning a physical store.
  • The right eCommerce platform must offer a secure payment procedure. Your customers must be rest assured that their personal information is safe and payment details are secured.
  • Always check to make sure your eCommerce platform supports HTTPS/SSLenabling a safe and secure checkout for the customers.
  • The right eCommerce platform must allow you to scale up your website as and when your business starts to grow.
  • Keep your product catalogs updated in real-time. Application Program Interface (APIs) will help you do that with ease.
Once you know what to do to choose the right eCommerce platform, you automatically know what not to do. After choosing the right eCommerce platform, here are some don’ts to refrain from.

Don’ts

  • Do not stack your product images. Going online does not mean you have ample space to showcase all your product images.
  • Don’t make the product exchange or return process difficult for your customers. This will lead to customer attrition.
  • Don’t make false promises to your customers. Remember, you must follow what you preach, else you will be unable to retain your customers.
  • Don’t miss out on offering post-sales customer service. Efficient post-sales customer service goes a long way with customer satisfaction.
  • Don’t ignore customer grievances. Customers can complain for various reasons like poor website interface or poor customer support. Working on these grievances will eventually help you improve your business.
  • Don’t rush, be patient. It takes time for a business to transition from offline to online. It takes time to reach out to people and it takes time for people to reach out to you.
Starting a business always holds challenges; however, eCommerce proves to be a new channel that can be leveraged to increase business sales and revenue. Ecommerce is all about providing the right shopping experience to your customers. And, choosing the right eCommerce platform will help you a long way. So, plan for the future, choose an eCommerce platform for tomorrow.

Deepika

Responsible for Revenue generation and Enhancing User Experience in e-stores
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How Distributors & Manufacturers Double their Revenue in the first 3 Quarters?

Fortunately, thanks to the advancement of eCommerce industry, customers can find everything online ranging from cosmetics to electronics. And thanks to the upsurge of internet users across the globe, the eCommerce market is worth $1.1 trillion. However, the same internet upsurge that has benefited the e-commerce industry has become a source of competition for the distributors, retailers, and manufacturers. A market study shows that in 2018, 47.3% of internet users have made successful online purchases and the number has grown ever since. This clearly means that eCommerce distributors and manufacturers have a large scope of enhancing their profits. If you are looking for ways to take advantage of this growth, then this blog offers a master strategy that will double your revenue in the first 3 quarters, and in just 4 easy steps.

Standardize the Content

Needless to say, strong content helps you attain customer trust. Standardizing the content and efficient content marketing helps you in customer retention. A useful content strategy includes:
  • High-quality, detail-oriented, and informative product descriptions
  • A well-defined Schema to improve your search engine results. A recent study has shown that websites with schema rank an average of 4 positions higher in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs).
  • A user-friendly taxonomy to showcase your product list, enhancing the online shopping experience for the buyers
  • Appropriate meta titles and meta descriptions to make your website visible on the SERPs
  • Comprehensive product catalogs for showcasing product range
  • Product reviews to reflect the honest opinions of the existing customers.
There are roughly only 0.3% websites that are standardizing the content in real sense. This means you have more chances of increasing your visibility on SERPs by following a robust content strategy. Click here to view some best practices of writing product descriptions.

Build an online catalog

Distributors and manufacturers can be highly benefited by creating an online catalog of their products. Firstly, an online catalog offers an immediate view of all changes in the product list available for buyers. In today’s competitive era, quick product updates can be offered with the help of e-catalog One of the most important advantages of having an e-catalog is being able to sync the inventory across the value chain. For instance, if a manufacturer chooses to stop producing a product, the entire value chain is updated immediately and the product stops appearing in the e-catalog. This prevents any order being placed for the same product and saves any unsuccessful purchases. This means attracting more retailers, resulting in better sales. In addition, here are some more advantages of e-catalogs:
  • More accurate orders leading to better customer satisfaction
  • Better purchasing process
  • Reduced raw material costs like paper, printing, and so on.
  • Reduced costs for data processing operations.
Click here to read more about choosing the right platform for creating online catalogs.

Build an API

API or Application Programming Interface is a gateway that connects two distinct databases, helping them communicate better. For instance, with the help of API two different e-catalogs can be easily uploaded online. APIs will connect your products with other products without the need for implementation. APIs will also sync the inventory online keeping the product list updated in real time. Here are some benefits of building an API
  • APIs can instantly help the retailers and distributors go online. This will eventually help them attract more customers online, increasing their revenues.
  • APIs can help distributors and manufacturers create a network with their clients, vendors, suppliers, partners and even employees.
  • APIs help to streamline operations

Promote your Products

A detailed product description made available to the customers through e-catalog does half the work for the distributors. A large percentage of the other half goes to product promotion. Studies have shown that 64.6% of people click on Google ads anytime they are wanting to buy something online. Here are some ways in which you can promote your products online.
    Search Engine Optimization (SEO) defines the product for its target audiences. SEO establishes the technical parameters that allow your product to appear on the top search results and helps you direct your customers to the most convenient distributor or retailer available.

    Conclusion

    Standardizing content, e-catalog creation, API creation, and Online product promotion are the four key strategies that will attract more customers to your websites. By following these steps, customers will have an enjoyable shopping experience. This means the buying decision made on the website has increased by over 63% which means increased sales and revenue generation.

Ashok V

Online R&D of e-stores, Revenue Generation Consultant at Altius Technologies
2022

Will Distribution Business Survive Beyond 2022?

Distributors and wholesale dealers are not new to the B2B eCommerce industry. Throughout the eCommerce supply chain, distributors, manufacturers, and wholesalers face immense pressure and end up spending billions of dollars just to survive in the market. According to a recent market survey, almost 40% of the distributors feel the competitive pressure against manufacturers due to increased digitalization. This is because retailers can simply go online to get in touch with the manufacturers directly on the online wholesale marketplace. And this means that the eCommerce chain remains functional even in the absence of distributors. Due to technological ignorance, distributors feel left out. According to the market research in the last Fiscal year, 52% of the distributors have an eCommerce website, out of which 80% do not have a web store plan for the next two years. Despite the fact that the eCommerce industry is offering opportunities worth $6.6 Trillion to the distributors; more than 70% of the distributors are falling behind in the race due to eCommerce immaturity and lack of technology. Distribution is a costly sales channel because of
  • Inefficient work structure
  • Inadequate market coverage
  • Insufficient financial support from the channel partners
  • Inadequate online presence
  • Insufficient knowledge about technology and software
End-users reach out to wholesalers directly due to their competitive pricing and strong online presence. Distributors fail to offer a competitive buying experience to the end-users, which is one of the preferential factors for the end-users, according to a market survey. The reason being, a majority of distributors fail to apply a good Product Information Management (PIM) system. This makes the work structure inefficient, lowers employee productivity, and increases maintenance cost making distribution an expensive sales channel. This is a vicious cycle that will go on unless specific measures are taken to bring changes in the channel. If you are a distributor, you must get ready to face the cut-throat competition in the race of digital transformation and follow some steps which will help you survive beyond the year 2022. So, what is it that a distributor must do?

Go Digital

Due to the overwhelming trend of online business, the distributors of the B2B industry are trying their best to establish an online presence before their competitors. However, before going online, try to conduct market research, understand what your customers are looking for, how much they are ready to spend, and who their favorite suppliers are. Unfortunately, there is a large percentage of distributors who have been in the market for more than a decade, offering a good customer experience through physical stores but, lack the knowledge of online sales. Take small steps to make a bigger impact. Below are some steps that you can follow to prepare yourself for the fierce online competition.
  • Optimization. Optimize your website pop-ups to attract and retain new customers.
  • Online Channels. Identify the right channels for online sales for your business. Not all channels are suitable. Look out for channels that help you reach your target audience. Identify the top and bottom performing channels and optimize them based on their ability to support sales.
  • Connect. Help retailers and sub-distributors go online. Connect with them allowing them to reach out to you, whenever required.
  • Customer Satisfaction. It is important to maintain the same customer service as your physical stores for better customer retention.
  • Security. Have an eye on the hackers who focus on data leaks and cybercrimes

Reduce Costs

The next 3 years are critical for the B2B distributors. Over the years, distributors have spent hundreds and thousands of dollars on sales. From now on, they need to work smart and the first wise decision to make is to develop an IT infrastructure at low cost. Here’s how the distributor can make its mark over the online platform and also save money and time while doing so.
  • Reduce your IT infrastructure costs. You only require the essential features that will add to the functionality of your online setup. Including different types of add-ons and features will only increase cost.
  • Identify the right cloud platform. Cloud platforms offer a competitive edge over your competitors. An ideal cloud platform offers unlimited storage space, reliable and secure data management, automatic software restoration, high speed and mobility.
  • Cloud Vs On-Premise. Move your IT infrastructure to cloud rather than on-premise to reduce maintenance costs.
  • Make the right choice. Identify the right eCommerce platform to go online. The eCommerce platform must be user-friendly, flexible, customizable and cost-effective.

Outsourcing

Distributors can simply be left out if they do not show an online presence. However, focusing on online visibility is not the only task the distributor must focus on. They must also take care of logistics, vendors, sales channels, and much more. In order to increase the online visibility and simultaneously lower the burden from the team, you need experts who can take care of the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Social Media Marketing (SMM) activities. Let your team focus their time and energy on other important aspects of the business.
  • Outsource. Outsource your SEO and SMM activities to an external agency. You can view the monthly reports to see how the company is performing online.
  • Consistency. SEO activities must be a regular activity and have a periodic frequency. For instance, have strict timelines for your website to appear on the top page of the search engines, regular posts on social media pages, and so on.
  • Experts handling. Let professionals handle the various types of content pieces for your business. Effective content for an eCommerce website includes detailed product description, well-structured schema, and well-structured product taxonomy. All of these content segments are essential to provide a better shopping experience to your customers.
  • Content Management. Posting high-quality content with essential keywords is important for greater online visibility. Let your content be relatable to your readers. Include knowledge-sharing blogs, articles, infographics and images, vlogs, podcasts, etc., on your website regularly. In addition, content curation and management for products are crucial to building trust and reliability with your customers.

Exploring

Distributors rely on long-standing relationships with their existing customers but do not focus enough on creating a new customer base. Attracting new customers is as important as retaining the old ones. This can be made possible by exploring different markets and sales opportunities.
  • Expansion. Consider expanding to newer markets. Try to understand your customers’ needs, analyze the changing trends of shopping, and expand your business to related products. Diversion based on customer needs can contribute significantly to business revenues.
  • Exploration. A distributor must be open to exploring new markets and discovering the various importing options available. This allows the distributors to be more reachable to their retailers and end-users.

Conclusion

Let the retailers approach you, for unique services that the manufacturers are unable to offer, such as Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) tools that automate the process of distribution and saves the retailer’s time and money. Retailers have to simply reorder, and the distributor provides whatever is being ordered, allowing the retailer to never run out of stock. This becomes possible when the distributor has a strong online presence. This way, distributors are bound to survive for many more years to come.

Arun Venkatraman

Helping CXOs succeed in the digital era by helping them capitalize on data and technology