SEMA News—April 2015

SEMA DATA CO-OP
By Jon Wyly

Confused About Data Management? Here Are the SDC’s Top Five Reasons to Get Started Now!

I was talking to an old friend who runs a specialty performance distribution business, and he said, “You know, it just seems like nobody talks to each other on the phone any more.” Yep, e-mail has changed the way we communicate. The same sentiment can be heard in brick-and-mortar stores across the country in the form of, “You know, people don’t come into the store like they used to.” There’s no question that the Internet has changed the way we do business as well. So what’s the common thread that is replacing the long-standing virtues of face-to-face business, customer relationships and loyalty? If you ask me, it’s technology.

As we have talked about so many times before, today’s consumers are increasingly demanding and have a pretty short attention span. You can thank the Internet for that. E-commerce has created an expectation of instant results, which has caused consumers in many cases to forego old loyalties in exchange for convenience, speed and ready availability of information.

So what does this mean to you and your business? Well, it’s rapidly becoming a “jump on board now or get run over by the train” scenario. Information—and specifically product information—is driving the choices that consumers make every day. Brand owners and resellers that have the best product information are winning with today’s consumers. Remember, even if they buy locally, more than 75% of consumers use the Internet to research potential purchases.

	E-commerce has created an expectation of instant results, which has caused consumers in many cases to forego old loyalties in exchange for convenience, speed and ready availability of information.

So here’s the punch line: If you are still waiting to see how this “data thing” is going to work out, you are on the verge of being left on the dock as the boat pulls away. Getting your data in order is not a quick fix. It takes expertise, dedicated resources and some high-quality help, like that provided by the SEMA Data Co-op (SDC).

Here are the SDC’s top five reasons why you should get started managing and distributing your product data now:

1. Quality product data helps make you “visible” to the 75% of consumers who are researching their potential purchases on the Internet. Every time product information is added to a website, blog post, forum or most anywhere else on the web, the search engines start crawling, cataloging and presenting that info in search results.
   
2. Quality product data is a requirement for doing business with many of your larger customers. Frankly, it’s almost impossible to get your foot in the door with the larger retailers and WDs unless you have their data needs handled.
   
3. You can accelerate your new-product sales by making product data available in a timely manner, populating key websites, blogs and forums and getting enthusiast “chatter” started.
   
4. Your own business systems require data to help you operate efficiently. Why not make sure it’s the best available?
   
5. Many of your competitors are working hard on their product data right now—and gaining market advantage in the process.

Don’t let a wait-and-see attitude stall you for one more day. The future of your business depends on it! 

To learn more about how you can take control of your product data and manage it at the lowest possible cost, contact SEMA Data Co-op Director of Membership Jim Graven at jimg@SEMAdatacoop.org or 888-958-6698 x4.