B2B eCommerce Tips

Promotional products suppliers: Are you ready for the big one?

by Robert Blume on December 20, 2011

For many in the promotional products industry, it’s not officially the New Year until the PPAI EXPO in Las Vegas. For 2012, that’s January 2-6.

While consumers are hurriedly running around buying last minute gifts, many promotional products suppliers are rushing around finishing up their last minute details for their biggest event of the year.

This year, PPAI have added some great new features that will help in planning your visit and getting the most from it. For example, for iPhone and Android users, they have added some great new mobile features. Make sure and check out the new mobile website and applications at http://m.theppaiexpo.org

And while you’re there, remember to promote your own online capabilities. Your ability to meet your prospects and customer’s eCommerce needs will be increasingly important in 2012.

And because you’re a CoreXpand customer, that means you can provide:

  • Punchout catalogs
  • Customer Designer Tools
  • Key Account / Company stores
  • And a whole lot more…

And just in case you run into a client with specific needs or questions, feel free to give us a call, and we’ll answer any questions about how you can serve that customer or land that new client!

For all our promotional products clients – Happy New Year and Good Luck in Vegas!

Just let us know what you need, and we’ll help you get the New Year off to a great start!

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Don’t think your products will sell online? Here’s why you should think again…

by Chris Shults on November 21, 2011

If eBay and Amazon have taught us anything, it’s that eCommerce is here to stay. But more than that, it is becoming the number one way people buy, period.  But in the B2B world, many vendors don’t offer their products online. They don’t think it will help sales because:

  • Their products require consultation in the sales process
  • Their products aren’t shippable or easily shipped
  • They only sell to a very specific industry or just to government
  • They only sell locally

But as many businesses are proving, you may need to reexamine those assumptions.  In the last few years, major trends in how and what companies purchase online have expanded into products and services that once were considered only a “face-to-face” purchase.

The purchasing process is triggered for many purchasing organizations via an online product display or offering, which then leads to a sales consultation and ultimately a sale.

In fact, many larger purchasing organizations today will not even consider you unless you have an eCommerce presence.  This holds true whether you sell nationally or just locally.

Larger purchasing entities – especially government organizations – have begun using their own private buying environments, or private online marketplaces.  This allows them to control how they purchase goods and services.

That’s why you will see a growing number of these organizations encouraging vendors to set up one-to-one sites and online catalogs within these private online marketplaces.  Smart suppliers will take a proactive approach and position themselves among the first inside these environments.

Purchasing for larger items, ‘delivered and installed’ (or configurable) items, as well as services are all increasingly being sold via online shopping solutions.  Because of the built in convenience and cost savings, this trend is likely to stay.  So if you want to make sure that your products are being viewed by these buyers, you will want to reconsider your online product sales strategy.

Give us a call, and we can show you how other successful suppliers are doing it. As always, there’s no obligation or hassle, and we’ll provide you a free analysis of your specific situation.

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Are you making the most of your sites?

by John Winchester on November 1, 2011

One thing that happens frequently in our day to day conversations with our valued customers is the “moment of discovery”… when they realize just how remarkably flexible our e-commerce solutions really are.

This happened just the other day when I helped a customer use their CoreXpand store to capture information that they needed in order to provide “other services” to their clients.

We were able to allow the users of the site to request a RMA number so they could make return requests from within the store. We developed an integrated email form that was placed on their storefront which allows the user to make the request without having to call someone to get the return taken care of. [Read the Full Article…]

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