FEATURE
Special Issue
TECHNOLOGY
SOLUTIONS
The YEAR of
TECHNOLOGY Window of opportunity or missed chance? For independent dealers, COVID-19 has presented both pivots and pain points
E
arly last year, with little warning, our industry – the world at large, in fact – was catapulted into a global pandemic. A few months later, in our annual Technology Solutions special issue of OPI, it had become obvious that this wasn’t going to be a short-term crisis, but an industry-churning event which would require considerable resilience and stamina. And an awful lot of technology. From the initial quick-on-your-feet thinking to longer-term adjustments to systems and processes, technology has been at the very heart of the past ‘COVID year’. OPI’s Heike Dieckmann asked a selection of solutions providers in our space about the highs and lows and their specific efforts in helping independent dealers come out bigger and stronger on the other side.
Special Issue
VENDOR SPECIAL
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CHARLES RUSSELL, CO-OWNER, SSI
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Over the past year or so, we have experienced a broad spectrum of performances, from customers with sales down 50% to some that are seeing their best year ever. Those that have thrived have done so because of their ability to procure and sell COVID-related products while dealers which didn’t manage to do that lost out massively. Customer mix was also a factor. Businesses with a heavy school volume, for example, have not fared well. Overall, about 3% of our OP dealers have either gone out of business or sold it. In terms of technology capabilities, mobile access has become paramount due to the work-from-home (WFH) situation. The challenge for technology companies has been to ensure the availability of mobile access by a dealer’s workforce, delivery people and customers while still protecting the security of the dealer’s system. From digitally creating, transmitting and receiving purchasing orders to routing and completing deliveries, automation and efficiency have been the chief goals in order to manage the WFH situation but also to cut costs, especially the considerably higher home delivery expenses. Dealers have been agile and found new sources for products that were in short supply and high demand by adapting to a disbursed worker environment – among their own as well as their customers’ staff. As companies call back employees and schools bring back students,
these challenges continue, with dealers adapting to new furniture and office layout demands. SSI PRIORITIES As for SSI specifically, we cut our own cost structure too; we let go of employees to make sure we could absorb our cost increases and not raise maintenance for our customers. In terms of software development, we pushed even harder on automating certain functions to help dealers lower expenses in those areas. We added additional merchandising controls to SSIweb so dealers’ customers can purchase the item that is the best value for them and which gives the dealer the highest margin. We also improved the system to make it friendlier and more efficient for employees working from home. All our new dealer sites incorporate responsive technology, for example, and provide a good mobile ordering experience without the need for a mobile app. In addition, we partnered with other companies to provide dealers with more options. We helped develop and perfect an excellent mobile proof-of-delivery system, for instance, and integrated ITEM411 with our software to assist dealers with managing pricing and protecting their margins. In terms of our own key (product) development, we’re focused on the web and dealer management tools. Our web storefront is already extremely
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