The world re-opened in 2021. Consumers returned to stores, retailers traveled to trade shows, and sales representatives hit the road. However, those months of staying at home in 2020 demonstrated to everyone just how convenient it is to do much of that same work from a laptop, tablet, or phone —if you have the right systems in place. It further proved that omnichannel is the future of wholesale.
MarketTime is a comprehensive digital platform that can perform all of these tasks for sellers, buyers, and reps without having to do all the physical legwork or wasted time playing phone tag. We are in a Post-Pandemic World now, where staffing is reduced and patience is in short supply. MarketTime is a robust solution for giving your customers, reps, and internal operations the information they’re looking for quickly and easily.
Streamlined Order Management
During the pandemic, some aspects of running a business – such as receiving overseas shipments – seemed frozen in place. Not knowing how much product was in inventory, when something was shipping, or where it was in transit made manufacturers and retailers feel helpless and frustrated. On the other hand, those companies that invested in innovative order management software like MarketTime have an advantage over their competition: real-time information.
Being able to access reliable order status updates to share with sales reps and customers takes some of the sting out of unexpected inventory shortages. No one wants to hear that their merchandise won’t arrive on time, or that the product they selected is out of stock indefinitely, but there’s a big difference in how customers feel when they’re told “I have no idea” versus “This is the latest data as of today.”
Having up-to-the-minute information instantly available boosts customer confidence and generates loyalty whether you are a manufacturer, retailer, or sales rep. With MarketTime’s Order Management app, everyone involved in the product sale is in the loop with the latest developments. This means customers with inquiries don’t receive one answer from the manufacturer and a different answer from the rep; MarketTime makes the information uniform, timely, and seamless.
Manufacturers and retailers aren’t the only ones who need up-to-date order tracking and inventory management. Sales reps are equally pressed for time and accurate information. With multiple manufacturers, numerous product categories, and a variety of customer types, providing real-time data and creating purchase orders from multiple lines takes a lot of coordination and diligence. MarketTime’s software efficiently handles all of those concerns so sales reps can put their time and energy into other initiatives to further serve their customers.
Beyond the Basics
In addition to inventory control, MarketTime’s Manufacturer and Brand portal provides the ability to easily share promotions, digital assets, and shoppable catalogs across the board. It can also integrate an ERP system to give a company even greater visibility.
The MarketTime platform for sales agencies comes with powerful tools to easily manage territories and regional divisions, along with invoice and commission-tracking software that simplifies the process. Thanks to new channels of marketing for reaching the end-consumer, manufacturers and retailers have heightened consumer awareness of their brands through websites, ecommerce, and social media. Sales reps are now facing similar pressure, with many rep firms establishing their own brand identity complete with a social media presence and branded, B2B ecommerce site that make it simple for their clients (as well as prospective customers) to place online orders.
Powerful Data Management
While order information is handy, data management is absolutely vital to a successful business. With MarketTime’s Data Management Cloud, there is one central location for storing customer information, product data, and images.
B2B Commerce Lets You “B” Everywhere
MarketTime’s team put in the long hours configuring a goof-proof ecommerce platform so you don’t have to!
Just click and upload the product images and descriptions you want customers to see, create your own categories, and present your assortment how you want it to look — customers can add products from across various brands to one shopping cart for a multi-line order with a super-easy checkout process.
One of today’s most popular ecommerce strategies is offering “hotspotting” in a “shoppable” catalog. With hotspotting, a customer clicks on an image they’re interested in, and a product description or price pops up to give more detail. The advantage is a clean, beautiful look to your e-catalog without words and style numbers distracting from the image. When a catalog is shoppable, it means products can be ordered immediately without leaving the website, plus you can curate your presentation the way you want, such as by category, price, brand, or any other criteria you choose. The bottom line is, the simpler you can make the shopping process for customers with MarketTime’s innovative tools, the more time they will spend browsing your website — and buying.
Whether you are a buyer, seller, or sales rep, MarketTime has specialized tools to help you grow your company by eliminating a lot of the complicated ordering and operations processes that can bog a business down. Book your demo today with MarketTime.