Print Solutions Magazine, May 2003 -- Riding the E-Commerce Wave, Page 2

In October 2001, Peter Mallinger and Scott Luse founded Bloomington, Minn.-based distributorship Creative Solutions Group Inc. They immediately began using software from Minneapolis-based supplier Four51 Inc.

Mallinger, Creative Solutions Group's president and co-owner, and Luse, its vice president of sales and marketing, believed that e-commerce was changing the industry and would be critical in ensuring the fledgling distributorship's success. A few months later, they were proved right: Creative Solutions Group landed some of its 24 online customers chiefly because of its effective internet services. "We just discussed the e-commerce solution during business meetings and hardly even talked about printed products," Mallinger says. "But we landed those accounts by only talking about the e-commerce solution."

Four51 offers online ordering, distribution, order tracking and customized reporting. Customers can place orders from their online catalogs, and multiple users can order and reorder materials. Once they submit orders online, distributors receive them and assign them to suppliers, who ship the orders to end users. End users can track order statuses online and keep in touch with vendors through online messaging. "You know what's being ordered, who's ordering it and when you'll receive it," Mallinger says.

Creative Solutions Group's relationships with suppliers has improved tremendously, Mallinger says. When customers order from their online catalogs, the software sends the orders to the distributorship, which then sends suppliers online RFQs with complete product specs. After choosing a supplier for a job, Creative Solutions Group creates a purchase order and sends it to the supplier, which receives an email order notification. Once the supplier fulfills and ships the order, the company notifies the distributorship and the end user, both of whom can view the shipment tracking online. "Our work with the supplier is done at a better speed, lower costs and in a streamlined way," Mallinger says. "Life without e-commerce would be very difficult."

Preeti Vasishtha is assistant editor of Print Solutions. Email her your comments at pvasishtha@PSDA.org

E-Commerce 101: 5 Tips

If you're thinking of implementing an e-commerce solution, here are five points to keep in mind:

1. Talk to your customers. Clients are a good starting point. Find out what they want to accomplish online, then look for software that fits their needs, says Anthony Lombardo, president of Albany, N.Y.-based document delivery resource planning company The Bajan Group Inc.

2. Shop for the right price. Once you begin scouting for software, you're likely to come across a wide range of costs, says Jeff Martin, vice president of sales and marketing at Independence, Mo.-based distributorship Control Printing Group Inc. "You're likely to find something that will fit your needs for a lesser price" when you shop around, he says.

3. Talk to software customers. Solid technical support from the software provider is essential when distributorships install software and when customers begin using it. "Talk to customers of various software companies who've used their products, and find out how they feel about customer support and the level of support they get," Martin says.

4. Leverage what you have. Use your existing IT infrastructure. Look for software you can implement in your system without much tweaking, Lombardo says. With so many choices, you'll likely find something that works well with your network.

5. Train your IT staff. E-commerce isn't plug-and-play, Lombardo says. "It can be a great selling tool if used properly," he says. "But you can't do it without understanding technology, internet and databases." That often requires employing trained IT people in house.

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