If there’s one thing living through a pandemic has proven, it’s how adaptable we are as human beings, not to mention as an industry. Whether manufacturers, retailers, designers, or sales representatives, we’ve had to think quickly and creatively to keep our businesses afloat. For many, that means learning new digital tools —a daunting endeavor for those used to operating in non-digital ways for decades.
In short, the entire process of buying and selling changed abruptly last year. While most manufacturers, retailers, and sales reps were already acclimated to conducting more of their business activities online, the pandemic forced everyone to dive deep into the depths of e-commerce on every level.
Retailers who had previously insisted they had to see new products in person before they placed an order were forced to rely on online catalogs, spec sheets, and digital images. Those manufacturers who historically uploaded products to their websites weeks after a show ended now struggled to present their introductions online in real time during the market timeframe.
Fortunately, MarketTime’s proven B2B wholesale software platform was in place to help every area of the wholesale B2B marketplace continue with product orders without missing a sales opportunity.
The recent markets in Dallas are a compelling success story in how a comprehensive wholesale order management software system works in tandem with an in-person show to create a vibrant, profitable buying experience for all.
The Dallas Market Center (DMC) – which hosted the Apparel & Accessories Market, Total Home & Gift Market, KidsWorld, and Lightovation all in June – reported the biggest summer month of buyer traffic in more than 10 years. These shows collectively welcomed tens of thousands of buyers from all 50 states to the marketplace’s more than 1 million square feet of open-daily showrooms, according to DMC statistics.
Most notably, the Apparel & Accessories Market saw a 48% increase in overall buyers; Total Home & Gift Market had a new buyer increase of 40%; Lightovation drew attendance that was 90% of pre-pandemic levels; and KidsWorld experienced a more than 50% increase in buyers.
“The in-person experience is critical in order to see new styles, experience new technology, and build relationships so we were thrilled with the show’s attendance and engagement,” said Cindy Morris, President & CEO of DMC. “Everything lined up in our favor including health and safety, the number of new collections, retail conditions, and a spirit of uniting the industry to help one another.”
And yet, even with a record number of in-person attendees at these shows, there were thousands of retailers and designers who either could not make it to these markets for logistical reasons (i.e., the border between Canada and the U.S. was closed), health considerations due to COVID-19, or the spate of flight cancellations that affected American Airlines during the Total Home & Gift Market week.
The beauty of the MarketTime B2B wholesale platform is that it provides retailers, designers, brands and sales agencies with a robust omnichannel method for viewing new products, accessing essential product information, and placing orders whether they are in a showroom in Dallas or at home on their computer. There are other valuable benefits as well, such as the ability for buyers to place orders well after the markets have ended and the ease of communication between sales agencies, reps, and manufacturers.
Another attribute that buyers appreciate about MarketTime is the ability to shop brands online that they might not have had time to see in person at market. With a marketplace as vast as the Dallas Market Center campus and buyers’ tight timeframes for being away from their stores to attend market, it’s easy to run out of time to see everything. With MarketTime’s B2B website solution for sales agencies and brands, those product lines are accessible to buyers at their convenience, independent of wholesale market dates and hours.
The benefits of MarketTime aren’t solely for buyers. In fact, the most impressive attributes of MarketTime are what it provides to manufacturers and sales agencies. Besides the ability to offer their customers the convenience of 24/7 online ordering, the MarketTime order management software simplifies what used to involve a lot of paperwork. The MarketTime app for iPhone/iPad/Android enables sales reps to write more orders everywhere, scan barcodes for immediate product entry and quickly create a purchase order or quote, even when the internet connection is spotty. MarketTime also makes life much easier for the back-office team by digitizing all orders and supporting powerful commission-tracking, even for the largest and most successful sales agencies.
What also has manufacturers and sales agencies raving is MarketTime’s white label “private marketplace” program that in essence provides a B2B ecommerce website solution that is easily and individually configurable to match the look and feel of each sales agency’s and manufacturer’s brand. Among the most popular benefits are the clickable “hotspot shoppable catalogs” and the ability for manufacturers to showcase a best-seller, offer an exclusive promotion, and enable re-orders with just one click.
As the internet has made the world “smaller” when it comes to the average person’s access and exposure to other countries, MarketTime maximizes that advantage by partnering with trademart sponsors such as the DMC and Brussels International Trade Mart. In the coming months, MarketTime will be working with these partners to create connections for seamless global B2B commerce, complete with support for multiple languages and currencies.
MarketTime is also expanding its omnichannel B2B commerce capabilities to make it even easier for buyers and sellers to interact and transact. Planned features include the ability for buyers and designers to create a wish list of products, and schedule meetings or chat with a manufacturer or sales agency before meeting in person at market. The goal is to provide small and mid-size companies, brands, and rep groups with the tools to have a greater reach into the national and international markets.
Coming out the other side of a global pandemic has made manufacturers, sales agencies and buyers, more comfortable and experienced with tapping into technology and ecommerce to simply their business practices, automate some operations, and increase their customer base. MarketTime’s easy to use, comprehensive B2B commerce solution is an effective one-stop integrated shop that can keep the industry moving ahead.