How Manufacturers can Increase Sales
and Reduce Costs with E-Commerce

Once upon a time, manufacturers had just one sales channel – direct to wholesalers/distributors. Very few sold directly to end-use customers because it would require additional overhead to maintain sales personnel who could devote the necessary time to developing new customer relationships and maintaining existing accounts. The primary mode of informing wholesalers of the manufacturer’s available products was the printed catalog. Most orders were processed over the phone, through the mail or in person.
Since the advent of the digital age – manufacturers have slowly migrated away from the snail-mail catalog model, opting for online product descriptions and pricing. The front-runners have even begun to skip the middle man, sell direct to end users and capture additional revenue. Next up for manufacturers who want to take a giant leap ahead of the competition is an e-commerce platform that seamlessly connects sales and operations. Such a system saves time and expense while simultaneously expanding market reach and realizing incremental sales growth. Here’s how:

Order Processing

One of the most time-intensive processes in business today is online order processing. May manufacturers can point to a dozen or more steps necessary before a customer’s order is converted to a paid invoice. With the next-generation e-commerce solutions now available, that process is automated and streamlined, largely because the e-commerce store is seamlessly connected with the back office software.

Data Entry

In manufacturers’ offices, the time-killer of typing endless streams of text into fields for product descriptions, pricing, customer discounts, customer data, etc. has met its match in the best e-commerce platforms. With previous systems, the back office software wasn’t auto-synched with the online catalog and store, making it necessary for time-consuming data entry or batch uploads. By linking front to back end, these hours can be drastically reduced by instantly rendering data entered in one system to the other system.

More Channels; More Customers

Cutting out the middle man is something manufacturers have long wished to do. E-commerce technology now makes it a reality in two ways. First, by introducing your product catalog to new sales channels such as third party marketplaces (eBay, Amazon), your multi-channel solution will bring more customers to you. Additionally, by adding a language translator and currency calculator to your store, you can tap into international markets yet untouched. Selling to anyone – anywhere – is finally a reality.

Social and Multi-Media

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a million. Online consumer research shows that customers who are able to watch videos embedded in product descriptions are much more likely to make a purchase. Today’s best e-commerce solutions offer this functionality, along with social media connectivity, which is the new word of mouth.

How i95dev can help?

We’re sure you have many questions about how i95Dev’s next-generation, multi-channel e-commerce solution can save time, reduce expenses and increase sales for your business. Feel free to contact us at info@i95dev.com or at our website, http://newdev.i95dev.com/contact/