Content area
Full Text
We recently sat down with Ken Dickinson and Keith Lambert of Kore Technologies - a company that specializes in e-commerce integration and management solutions. The company has a strong focus on the industrial sector and shared some of their biggest takeaways from working with manufacturers and industrial distributors.
Jeff Reinke: E-commerce can be a daunting venture for the industrial sector. What advice could you offer for the initial platform selection and implementation phases?
Keith Lambert, VP Marketing & Business Development, Kore Technologies: Our experience has found that this sector, maybe even more than others, really needs to take extra time in making sure the tools and technology being put in place mesh cleanly with the company's goals. Most of the time, we're helping companies narrow down their overall focus so they can make the right investment decisions.
We always tell them, "don't try to eat the elephant all at once". Figure out the primary products you want to sell on-line and focus your efforts on those products. Essentially, we're asking them to segment their customer base and choose the SKUs appropriately.
Ken Dickinson, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Kore Technologies: Content is king. Manufacturers and suppliers have varying degrees of control when it comes to content, but they are both equally challenged with finding the best way to distribute this content to the sellers. This means they might need an e-commerce solution that is more flexible in working with their channel partners.
For manufacturers, the site's primary function might not be to sell...