Case Study: E-marketplace for used equipment resale
Our client had an inefficient process for the resale of used equipment. Dealers were utilizing client/server technology and mostly manual processes for locating inventory for their customers and trading used equipment. As a result, both the brand and profitability for this line of business suffered. The client needed to create an e-marketplace that would enhance its brand, build customer trust in its used equipment, and provide dealers with multiple channels for trading equipment, online marketing collateral, real-time advertising, and the ability to provide quotes.
Aquent developed a total e-commerce solution, including eight different applications that provide inventory visibility across the entire dealer network, giving dealers access to the inventories of other dealers around the world. The management system, which includes the following features, helps dealers organize, manage, and profitably turn their used inventory:
- Standardized, integrated, and easy-to-use web-based interface for managing inventory
- Online evaluation of equipment and the ability to advertise directly in real time, upload and show specific images for repair estimates, and communicate between sales and service divisions
- Dealer-to-dealer exchange of inventory information
- Upload of up to 12 photographs for machines listed dynamically
- Generation of professional sales brochures and repair quotes with photos
- Automated ad creation with photos
- Links to display dealers’ inventories
- E-pricing guide to determine price of equipment
This e-marketplace helped the client turn inventory faster, drive new revenue, and increase profits.
Case Study: E-commerce and inventory management application
Our client needed to increase revenue, decrease costs, and improve process efficiencies for its “service parts” business by replacing legacy processes and networked systems with an efficient, scalable, and easy-to-use e-commerce solution. Aquent designed an orchestration of services around a host system with all business logic built in to process orders. The user-friendly, multilingual online application increased sales in overseas markets, shortened sales cycle times, and reduced network costs of over $1 million annually.
Case Study: Access to real-time inventory information across platforms
A Fortune 500 company needed an integrated e-business solution to manage inventory and provide real-time inventory data to sales personnel, while in the field in front of customers. Sales staff needed the ability to generate sales quotes quickly, but they did not have access to real-time inventory data, content, or systems, resulting in lost sales opportunities and diminished customer service. The solution needed to be in multiple forms, including a PDA-based solution for a disconnected field operation and a smart client version for laptops to provide richer interaction while still allowing disconnected operation. In addition, inventory and sales quotes needed to be synchronized with the web infrastructure so that the same information was available through the online web application.
Aquent built an e-commerce application that increased sales and improved customer service by providing sales staff with a desktop- and PDA-accessible web application, including:
- Quote generation abilities with interfaces to Pocket Outlook, avoiding the need to capture customer contact information
- Powerful inventory search functionality and product thumbnails
- Sales help information
- Inventory synchronization with dealer systems
- Interoperability via the use of services based on XML over HTTPS
- Personalization via configurable options
Case Study: Online product configuration tool
Our client needed a way to allow remote farmers, or farmers who wanted to explore options without a salesperson’s bias, to configure their equipment online. The application had to have a simple, easy-to-use interface, while providing over a billion product variations to the customer. Aquent developed applications to mine product specification and pricing data from legacy applications and deliver customized content back to the customer, via an online portal. The customer could submit specifications and then have a representative from the dealership contact him or her to provide further consultation on the choices, before the final product was entered into the fulfillment system.