on the rise - Ussco.com

thewordby Andrew Morgan❘ President, Red CheetahMake E-Commerce More ProductiveDealers have embraced the understanding and importance of a world-class e-commerce approach to business,but the continuing challenge is to understand the speed and evolution that continue to occur online.That evolution has been taking place not only in e-commerce, where search capabilities haveimproved and enriched e-content has been added with help from United Stationers, but also on theback end where we continue to improve hard and soft ordering costs and build customer loyalty.As e-commerce has evolved with improved search opportunities, enhanced content, and richmedia, many resellers still struggle with the misconception of decreased loyalty associated withe-commerce sales. Our goal and our challenge are to continue to evolve the e-commerce platforminto a loyalty creator. That means independent dealers have to maintain their identity online and notbecome faceless sellers.There is definitely reduced engagement online compared to face-to-face sales efforts, but enhancedonline functionality that simplifies the ordering process can more than make up for the different experience.Quite simply, it’s possible for dealers to enrich the online experience of their customers throughease of use. Online ordering saves your customers time and money. That fact alone heightenstheir online shopping experience and can translate into increased loyalty.Dealers who put their friendly face forward online and embrace the continuing evolutionof cultural engineering tend to be dealers whose e-commerce business is growingthe fastest. They’ve leveraged ease of use and the time-saving aspects of e-commerceto transition existing accounts toonline sales and attract new onlinecustomers.These resellers have developed awarm and friendly Web presence byempowering their staffs to be openand honest online. The online experiencebecomes rich and warm whendealers tie in personal aspects oftheir operations. A simple effort suchas listing employees with bios andcontact information enhances onlineshopping and builds a friendlier appearanceinto the e-commerce experience.Social media also enriches the Webexperience and offers another onlinemethod to engage your customers.Your Internet sales efforts will growand prosper once you begin to engagecustomers through your enriched onlinepresence. O|LGIVE US YOURFINAL WORD!Share your valuable experienceswith readers of “The Final Word.”If you could give a new dealer justone piece of advice, what wouldit be? Can you describe yourmost challenging sales call andhow you responded? Send yoursubmission to:OfficeLinec/o United StationersOne Parkway North Blvd.Suite 100Deerfield, IL 60015-2259or via e-mail to:officeline@ussco.comsubject line “The Final Word”DIRECTORY OF ADVERTISERSacco. page 11Avery. page 9Brother.back coverdataproducts . page 32Durable. page 22ECI. page 15Esselte . page 30fellowes . page 13HON. page 5hp .inside front coverHP . page 38innovera.inside backcoverkantek . page 22kimberly-clark. page 7pm company. page 41sanford. page 42smead. page 433M. page 33United stationers. page 2United stationers. page 45xerox. page 25OfficeLine is published bi-monthly by United Stationers Supply Co. for the benefit of its independent resellers and suppliers in the office products industry. To obtain a complimentary subscription, please visit ussco.com/resellers/gi_officeline.shtmlor contact your local account manager. The publisher reserves the right to deny subscriptions based solely on its discretion. Advertisers may contact the publisher at officeline@ussco.com for rates and schedules.48 November/December 2009