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ePurchasing Network (ePN), a company that has created an online platform to help distributors maximize revenue, relationships and retention, announced its entry into the janitorial/sanitation (jan/san) market.
Although many jan/san distributors are selling online, the $25 billion jan/san industry is currently underserved by eCommerce solutions which are cost prohibitive, lack customization options, offer a poor user experience, provide little branding differentiation, and lack seamless integration with back-end systems.
ePN’s turnkey eCommerce solution empowers jan/san distributors to address all of these challenges and launch their own integrated web storefront, under their own brand, at a surprisingly low cost. ePN also manages the product data from the manufacturer so product and list price information are accurate and up-to-date.
With ePN, distributors can move more products, more effectively educate and engage channels and buyers, and sell online 24x7 – with no technical expertise required. ePN enables distributors to deliver the same great customer experience through their website as through their sales team.
Since its founding, ePN has become an established force in the food services/hospitality equipment market and has recognized commonalities between these sectors when it comes to selling online. “Both the food service and jan/san equipment and supplies sectors struggle with complex two-step distribution channels (manufacturer to distributor to buyer), a selling model that presents unique challenges to selling online,” said Tom Frommack, President and COO. “Distributors struggle to manage the vast amount of product and pricing information provided by manufacturers on their own and, until now, lack the solutions to streamline the process. With ePN, selling online doesn’t have to be that complicated.”
ePN customer, Bell & Sons, currently straddles both market segments – food service equipment and jan/san – and the limitations of their legacy solution made it almost impossible for them to sell online.
“We approached ePN because we saw value in their ability to manage both the product and pricing data that we receive from our manufacturers. The sophistication of ePN’s pricing tool is something we have struggled to find with other solutions” said Greg Bell, CEO. “ePN’s platform enables us to set prices for our customers by product which is a huge value-add. We can be assured that product and pricing information are accurate and up-to-date while delivering a professional, convenient shopping experience.”
Another company seeing value in ePN is Vital Solutions, a manufacturer of chemical cleaning supplies. The company is using ePN to expand the distribution of its products to key customers in the jan/san market. Vital Solutions recently launched a manufacturer portal, powered by ePN. The portal gives Vital Solutions increased exposure and expanded distribution for its products via a digital showroom so that it can market and sell products to more buyers, in this case NISSCO Buying Group distributors who also enjoy pre-negotiated discounts. “With ePN, we are expanding distribution of our products into a new channel much faster and more cost-effectively than we could by any other means,” said Ron Heagle, CMO. “Over the next six months we plan to expand our model into other buying groups across the industry.”