VIEWPOINT
ADDING VALUE FOR MERCHANTS WITH ONLINE OFFERINGS
Kerridge Commercial Systems’ md James Mitchell on how software companies can best support their merchant customers post-lockdown.
AT A TIME when the industry is emerging from lockdown but still faced with the prospect of long term social distancing one of the most valuable way a software company can support its merchant customers at the moment is by enhancing its online presence. One of the priorities for the team at Kerridge Commercial Systems’ (KCS) has been to bring forward the development of certain products, deployable in days, which enable merchants with no existing ecommerce capabilities to start competing very quickly with those already trading on line.
Online moves
The internet has been the go-to place for everyone in this crisis – whether it’s for communicating with family or for doing business. We’re seeing business methods changing in front of our eyes, accelerated by the situation, while confidence in visiting bricks and mortar stores is set to reduce. Companies already set up with a good web presence - and good processes behind it - are the ones that are surviving. Trade and consumer customers will
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now expect their local merchant to have web capabilities that match what they’re used to in other areas of their personal and business life. Unfortunately those who have only previously paid lip service to trading online are going to lose out.
Our response has therefore been to develop several key products enabling the very quick deployment of integrated and non-integrated e-commerce sites; a connector designed to manage transactions from sales platforms such as Amazon more cheaply and easily; and a sales rep portal that will allow sales reps working from home to take orders remotely on our K8 ERP solution.”
K8 WebTrade is a Cloud-based integrated website, designed for very quick and easy deployment by merchants already using the K8 ERP solution. It gives their trade customers access to an extensive product catalogue and shows personalised pricing and stock availability. Customers can log on securely and place orders that are immediately imported into K8 ready to be processed. They can also browse their account and, most importantly for the
merchant, make payment on line. Merchants wanting to reach out to the consumer market as well can opt for K8 WebPro - a version that supports both B2B and B2C trading models.
The second product is K8 WebShop, a stand alone website for smaller operations - who may or may not already use a KCS ERP solution, but are looking for a quick and easy way to sell online. With the facility to include product availability, K8 WebShop can be deployed very quickly and nominated staff notified immediately when orders are placed on the site.
Amazon options K8 Amazon Connector, another product integrated with K8, has been designed for customers wishing to make their products available for sale on Amazon as an additional route to market - either for direct or local fulfillment. This is another very quick to deploy solution that automatically imports orders into K8. Stock availability and order status updates are made available electronically to Amazon.
As many sales teams are
“
We are seeing business methods changing in front of our eyes,
accelerated by the situation, while confidence in visiting bricks and mortar stores is set to reduce.
still currently working from home, KCS has also brought forward the development of its K8 SalesRep Portal, a solution designed to enable them to take orders remotely on K8 - as they are in conversation with their customers. When K8 SalesRep Portal is combined with the power of the KCS Vecta Sales Intelligence platform, spotting trends and opportunities can also be maintained. BMJ
”
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net September 2020
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