A new initiative from Digital River, the Multi-Channel Optimization Program, was announced in MarketWatch.com.
Digital River, founded in 1994 and based in Minneapolis, is a leading supplier in worldwide comprehensive e-commerce solutions and the new addition has been incorporated into its existing Global Commerce solution. The initiative is geared to assist consumer electronics manufacturers through a multi-channel strategy that includes online pricing, distribution, and growth. The program is designed to enhance sales revenue at the point of product presales right on through to a product’s termination.
The company focuses on a number of game and software developers, retailers, online affiliates, manufacturers of consumer electronics, and distributors, and provides solutions to creating, building, and managing their businesses. The e-commerce multi-channel solution offers both direct and indirect sales support, and is specifically designed to provide businesses of all sizes the ability to maximize online revenue and reduce business expenses and risks.
President and chief operating officer of Digital River, Tom Donnelly, noted in the press release, “Gone are the days when your only option for refurbished, b-stock and end-of-life products was liquidation.” He added that the Multi-Channel Optimization initiative provides manufacturers of consumer electronics an effective strategy to “re-channel their products based on where the product is in its lifecycle.” The unique aspect of this feature is reaches its objective “without risking profits, channel harmony, brand control and their customer relationships.”
The new program offers several solution combinations within its channel incentive, including:
- Search optimization
- Seller management for top-level partners
- Easy and quick access to eBay’s marketplace
- An outlet store for refurbishments, returns, and other items
- Solution for where-to-buy within new markets, reducing the associated risks
- Solution for online warranties that uses warranty up-selling which includes internet based repair charges
Another company moving forward within the channel partner arena is Cloudera. The company reported joining Hadoop, which is an “open-source project administered by the Apache Software Foundation.” Hadoop is a ground-breaking platform that provides the landscape to combine and consolidate data on a large scale.
According to Channel Insider, Cloudera’s head of business development Ed Albanese explained, “I think what’s going to catch both partner and customer interest is the fact that we have the industry’s first certification program [for Hadoop].” He added that the certification initiative is a platform for both partners and customers “to tell their stories.”
