Cloud-based tool provides real-time analytics to enable merchandisers to make better-informed decisions, increase productivity and boost sales
Smart Merchandiser, the industry’s only provider of a visual eCommerce merchandise management solution, today announced at IBM Amplify 2015 in San Diego the launch of a cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) version of its flagship product. Smart Merchandiser is the only commercially available single tool that streamlines the online visual merchandising process based on critical analytics, ratings, conversation rates, inventory and other data. With the new cloud-based version, merchandisers can now take advantage of Smart Merchandiser’s latest feature updates instantly and more affordably.
With a simple drag-and-drop interface designed for catalog sequencing, Smart Merchandiser overlays analytics, ratings, conversion rates and inventory data from IBM WebSphere Commerce and other sales and marketing sources onto graphical depictions of actual product catalogs. This deeper insight in a single location helps merchandisers make smarter online layout decisions based on up-to-date sales reports, color and size inventory fluctuations, social activity and promotions, saving them time and increasing revenue.
“Smart Merchandiser represents everything we’ve been looking for in a tool that will help streamline workflow for our merchants, as well as provide additional business intelligence to assist in merchandising decisions,” said Greg Pulsifer, vice president of VF Digital Platform, Commerce, The North Face.
A recent study of IT and business professionals by CompTIA reports more than 90 percent adoption of cloud computing at some level. With businesses moving increasingly toward this faster and more accessible delivery model, Smart Merchandiser is well-positioned to empower digital merchandising professionals to make faster, better-informed decisions.
Smart Merchandiser enables marketers, merchandisers and eCommerce professionals to dramatically reduce the time required to create, edit and update online storefronts, thanks to a more streamlined workflow, better control of online product displays and the ability to quickly respond to trends in social networks. In fact, Smart Merchandiser clients experience up to a 70 percent reduction in time required for merchandising tasks, as well as up to a 20 percent increase in conversion rates.
Smart Merchandiser’s features include:
- Easy-to-use, unobtrusive user interface that overlays data such as page views, abandonment rate, conversion rate and sales revenue on product images;
- Drag-and-drop and single-click interface to simplify catalog management, as well as mass adding, removing and updating departments, colors, materials and other attributes;
- Visual alerts for low inventory items or out-of-stock items, as well as missing attributes;
- Simplified color sequencing to quickly promote items based on seasonality, inventory level or trending and popularity;
- Improved searchability and customer experiences with advanced sorting and filtering by attributes, inventory, sales and availability date;
- Social analytics overlays, including likes, shares, views and searches, to gauge sentiment across social media.
Smart Merchandiser’s SaaS version is hosted on IBM Bluemix, an open-standards, cloud platform for building, running and managing applications. The tool will also integrate with two leading enterprise search platforms, EasyAsk and Solr, for easy-to-use, powerful site search and navigation designed to boost revenue opportunities and strengthen customer relationships.
“With cloud computing increasingly powering the ecommerce and merchandising industry, we realized there was a need for a tool that could be deployed in the cloud for faster and more affordable access,” said Teresa Zobrist, president and CEO of Smart Merchandiser. “We’re excited to launch Smart Merchandiser’s SaaS model and continue providing merchandisers everything they need to be more productive and successful.”
Smart Merchandiser will showcase the new SaaS version of its visual eCommerce merchandise management solution at booth #116 during the IBM Amplify 2015 conference, May 11-13 in San Diego.
About Smart Merchandiser
Smart Merchandiser is a provider of the industry’s only visual ecommerce merchandise management solution that enables better-informed, real-time merchandising decisions. Smart Merchandiser empowers ecommerce merchandisers and increases sales, productivity, and website performance by integrating IBM WebSphere Commerce’s data analytics and retailers’ visual product details in a single graphical interface. It is the only commercially available single tool that streamlines the online visual merchandising process based on critical analytics, ratings, conversation rates, inventory and other data. Proven to dramatically reduce the time and resources spent creating, editing, and updating online storefronts, Smart Merchandiser provides a drag-and-drop interface that previews how products will be displayed, even on mobile devices and kiosks. The brainchild of Zobrist Consulting Group, Smart Merchandiser has served various leading apparel, accessory and retail brands, including The North Face, JanSport and Lee. For more information, visit https://www.smartmerchandiser.com and follow on Twitter @Smart_Merch.
