E-commerce has evolved from a buzzword to a bona fide business
tool in the document management industry. Many distributors and manufacturers who once asked, "Wait, what is this thing?" now tell customers, "Wait until you see what we can do!"
It's clear that e-commerce is here to stay. Predicting its future? Well, that's different. It's like predicting what Aunt Bee will bring to the holiday feast--we all know it'll be strong, most of us expect something good, but what in the world will it look like?
The internet has affected each document company--from the small distributorship that didn't have a web site last year to the large company that supports Fortune 500 clients. E-commerce has brought about new strategies, painful struggles and impressive triumphs--sometimes in the same week.
Any technology that powerful is bound to bring about important misconceptions, too. Those misconceptions, distributors and manufactures say, prevent many firms from offering e-commerce. In the pages that follow, Print Solutions debunks five common e-commerce myths with the help of five companies that are achieving high-tech success.
Grimm, vice president of administration at Bend, Ore.-based distributorship Centro Information Systems, helps organize yearly council meetings with several of the company's top clients. After some socializing and group discussion, Centro employees leave the room while a hired facilitator asks the clients about their likes and dislikes regarding the distributorship's products and services. "When we leave, our business partners feel more free to discuss real compliments and pet peeves," Grimm says. The facilitator then gives Centro a report of the discussion.
At the council meeting held this past April, the recommendation from Centro's clients was unanimous: Build a stronger internet presence. "In order to understand the real needs of your customers, you have to do something many companies forget to do," Grimm says. "You have to ask."
Grimm, whose job at Centro encompasses internal operations, personnel issues and computer technology, began researching web site hosting companies and e-commerce providers. "We needed to build an effective site quickly," she says, "but we couldn't afford to spend a fortune."
Centro, which had been using Galaxy Solutions LLC's operations software since 1987, turned to the Shrewsbury, N.J.-based supplier for help. Galaxy told Grimm about its new business venture, web portal ePrintDistributors.com, which offers services such as web design and hosting, database design, and browser-based application development. (See E-Files) In just four days, Centro launched its web site (www.centro.com) and began using Galaxy's Satellite e-commerce system.
End users who want to order products online can go to Centro's home page and click on "Online order fulfillment here" on the top-left of the screen. After entering their unique usernames and passwords, customers can select ship-to addresses, view item descriptions and images, check inventory levels, enter quantities needed, and specify shipping methods and dates. Users also can view their requisition histories and open orders. When a client submits an order for two packages of item No. 702 (receipts), a notification message blinks on Centro's Satellite system. When the distributorship releases products from its warehouse, inventory levels shown on its web site are updated automatically.
"Every once in a while with the old system," Grimm says, "I'd tell clients we'd send them products without realizing we didn't have any left in the warehouse. That doesn't happen anymore." More importantly, she says, customers are raving about improved convenience. Soon after launching the site, two large clients opted to order the majority of their products online.
Grimm says Centro has penetrated much of the forms market in Oregon, but "e-commerce is going to be an exciting tool to help us gain more business out of state," she says. To that end, Centro recently included a story about its e-commerce capabilities in its quarterly customer newsletter, Partner Advantage.
Centro's main advantage, Grimm says, is the truth of the firm's motto, which appears on the newsletter's front page: "In helping others to succeed, we ensure our own success."
Distributors who are leery about offering e-commerce often cite potential loss of account control as a reason for their reluctance. When end users order products online, they say, there's less room for personalized customer service.
"Actually," says Jeff Martin, "relationships between distributors and their customers should strengthen when an online ordering system is in place. When both sides benefit from e-commerce, it doesn't make sense for either side to leave the relationship."
Martin, vice president of sales and marketing at Independence, Mo.-based distributorship Control Printing Group, says the less attention a client requires, the better. He tells clients, "The lower the cost of doing business with you, the lower we can afford to sell you products." More importantly, both sides can devote more time to solving bigger problems," he says. "Most clients see those cost- and time-savings as huge positives."
As more small and medium-sized end users invest in technology infrastructures, Martin says, they crave applications that provide returns on their investments. "We can go into existing or new accounts and play that card," he says. "It's far more effective than trying to sell based on products or price." He says it's important to remind e-commerce users of soft-dollar savings such as time saved during ordering and real-time availability of inventory data.
In May 2000, Control Printing Group began using Quantum Net, a Windows-based internet ordering system from Reno, Nev.-based operations software and e-commerce supplier Forms Management Data Systems (FMDS). The system, which Control Printing Group calls INCONTROL, enables online product catalog ordering, business card and stationery previewing, remote report generation, electronic messaging and more. Customers log on to www.controlprint
ing.com, click on "Electronic Ordering," enter their unique usernames and passwords, select shipping methods and cost centers, and place orders. Clients also can view reports, including back orders, cost center inventory usage and order tracking, in HTML and PDF formats. Approximately 50 accounts are using Control Printing Group's e-commerce system.
When clients request products stored in Control Printing Group's warehouse, the firm's warehouse manager receives an email notice. He checks the system two or three times a day. Warehouse release requisitions processed before 10 a.m. generally ship the same day; ones processed later go out the next business day. Customers receive separate email notifications when orders are placed and when products are shipped.
"One reason we opted for the Quantum Net system was its flexibility," Martin says. "Some customers use it for warehouse releases only, and others use it exclusively for new purchases. Some only use it to see what's available in inventory."
The system's administrative features are flexible, too. Control Printing Group's main contact at each client (the "gateway administrator") can specify employees' rights and ordering criteria. What's more important to Martin, however, is that outside sales representatives at the distributorship's two satellite offices (Bella Vista, Ark., and Dallas) can act as gateway administrators for their own accounts. "When we download their purchase orders, we don't have to punch in any data," he says. "They can place reorders or warehouse releases through the web. That has been a huge time-saver for those reps. And it has saved us money because we don't require the costly expense of a virtual private network."
Martin says Control Printing Group evolved from a low-tech documents provider to a high-tech solutions provider in only a few months. "When the smoke cleared and we realized how well this system worked," he says, "we all said, 'How did we get by so long without this?'"
One of Jane Grimm's favorite phrases is, "When our clients speak, we listen." She learns a great deal about her customers' needs, however, when she can't hear them talk.
"When both sides benefit from
e-commerce,
it doesn't make sense for either side
to leave the relationship."
Jeff Martin
Vice President, Sales and Marketing
Control Printing Group
Independence, Mo.
Since 1965, Edgerton, Minn.- based manufacturer Fey Industries Inc. has offered promotional items such as ring binders, desk and clip folders, daily planners and self-stick calendars. Until recently, however, customers weren't able to search for those items online.
"A lot of smaller firms don't offer much in terms of internet services," says Mike Fey, national sales manager of Fey Industries Inc. "Until we re-launched our web site in October, I must admit we were among that group. We've forged ahead now. Today, in order to service your customers properly, you absolutely must offer updated services on the web."
Fey Industries introduced two online services for distributors at www.fey-line.com--a searchable promotional products catalog and an order-status tracking feature. Users can search the catalog by product number, product category and price per item, and also can view products the manufacturer suggests for specific events (conferences, fund-raising, trade shows, etc.) and industries (automotive, construction, education, etc.).
Fey says the catalog, originally organized in Microsoft Access by Fey sales assistant Jennifer Korver, is used mostly as an idea generator. "If a client begins to sell to the banking industry and needs to come up with a marketing plan that incorporates promotional products," he says, "that distributor can find ideas 24/7 by logging on to our site." The site includes 15 products in the banking/financial category, including checkbook covers, certificate of deposit holders and desk planners.
The searchable product catalog doesn't require a username and password, but the order-status tracking feature does. The feature, built in house by Fey Industries' 2-person information systems department, enables users to view order statuses by keying in their purchase order numbers or order dates. Different icons indicate orders being processed, shipped or invoiced. Users who click on the order status link automatically view their previous 20 orders.
"Now that the new services are available," Fey says, "we need to drive more customers to the web site." The company is promoting the site by mailing calendars and mouse pads that include information about the online services. "Having new functionality is one thing," Fey says. "Making sure the industry is aware of the new functionality is another thing." He says 50 people representing approximately 30 companies used the new features in October.
"We really didn't need a Cadillac right out of the starting gate," Fey says. "We wanted to get simple but useful features to our customers--ones we could build on in the future." He says the company plans to add services soon that will make it easier for distributors to upload artwork and view online product specs.
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