What are Digital Catalogs and How Should You Be Using Them? | Salsify

The Digital Catalog is often described as a digitized version of a print catalog: but it’s more than that. It allows brand manufacturers, their teams, and distributors to have access to up-to-date, accurate product content that is readily available and it’s easy to use. Salsify’s digital catalog is easy to update and use a channel to publish to that is not a static webpage. It is an incredibly powerful tool for your organization: it allows you to create custom catalogs on fly, filter products based on certain attributes, showcase your products to sales representatives in a clean, easy to use manner, provide access to product information to your entire organization. In short, digital catalogs should be a critical tool in your commerce toolkit.

It’s time to give Digital Catalogs their chance in the spotlight. Check out 5 ways to use digital catalogs:

Custom Ordering for Brick & Mortar Retailers Provide Competitive Advantage

Not all retailers are digitally equipped, and for brand manufacturers who sell across retailers of all sizes, being able to provide product assortment in a clean, easy to use manner makes a significant impact on growing relationships with retailers.

Take Soft-Tex, a bedding and mattress company, who have seen customers increase orders by 300% because of the ease of use of Digital Catalogs. Why? By giving the buyer access to the digital catalog, it takes the guesswork out for their sales people and makes Soft Tex a stronger and easier to work with partner than other suppliers. Their customers pick the items that will resonate with their customer base -- “all they have to do is go to the Salsify catalog, take the SKU, put it on their standard order form, and submit it.”

Expand Inventory Availability with ERP Connected Drop Shipping

For brand manufacturers who work with small independent retailers, like Mom & Pop shops, the digital catalog can be used to enable them with digital commerce capabilities they are unable to afford otherwise. Gerson, a seasonal and home decor manufacturer, wanted to find a way to provide expanded inventory and Drop Ship availability to the 40% of their customers who are independent retailers.

By connecting their ERP to Salsify’s Digital Catalogs, Gerson created a way to increase sales: customers are now able to order directly off the digital catalog, that has up to-date inventory, and have those products sent directly to the consumer. It allows these retailers to expand their inventory, increase margins, and have online ordering capabilities.

Sell Discounted or Overstocked Inventory

Creating a catalog solely for inventory you are hoping to sell off provides customers the ability to order older models or discontinued product at a fraction of the original price. Giving your brand more time to focus on new products and growing revenue. Eaton Lighting’s Overstock Catalog allows them to move product that hasn’t had much traction and is updated weekly by the supply chain team.

Provide Global Access to Product Information & High Res Images

For brand manufacturers who have ownership and oversight of their factories overseas, it can be a challenge to communicate effectively about products. Language barriers coupled with not knowing who needs access to product information can be overcome with digital catalogs and high resolution images. Gerson’s workers in China use tablets and digital catalogs to verify inventory on the factory floor--this was impossible to accomplish with their expensive ERP that hindered product information sharing.

Eliminate Costly & Wasteful Print Catalogs (and release products, more often)

Ridding your company of print catalogs is beneficial from a variety of perspectives:

• Cost: Save thousands of dollars on printing bi-annual catalogs.
• Environmental: Save trees and never run out of catalogs.
• Always Up-to-date: Your sales cycles are more than twice a year now, why not have a catalog that can be updated with new product information?
• Release Products More: Without having to work on a bi-annual schedule of product releases, using a digital catalog allows your brand to be more agile in product releases. If a product is ready for customers -- release it.